By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – Since independence, natural resources in Kenya have been on a fast track to extinction. Today, nearly half of all its forests are gone, resulting in more droughts, floods and other dire consequences for communities, ecosystems, food security and infrastructure. From 10% of the country covered […]
Rising Demand for Palm Oil Threatens African Culture
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – The palm oil industry is growing by leaps and bounds around the globe but its overnight success is worrying environmentalists. An estimated 7.5 million acres of land traditionally used or inhabited by local communities has been acquired by palm oil companies, according to GRAIN, a […]
Need for NGO Action on Persian Gulf Tensions
Viewpoint by René Wadlow The writer is President, Association of World Citizens, a Nongovernmental Organization in Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). GENEVA (IDN) – The 14 September 2019 drone attacks on oil installations in eastern Saudi Arabia have dimmed hope for U.S.-Iranian discussions aimed to reduce tensions and potentially […]
Gunnar Myrdal Went Wrong with His ‘Asian Drama’
Viewpoint by Deepak Nayyar The transformative experience of the last five decades shows that policymakers should approach development with a diagnostic mind and a healthy scepticism of magic wands, silver bullets, and universal prescriptions, writes Deepak Nayyar, Emeritus Professor of Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. The following text is based on his input […]
Ghana’s First President Predicted Black-on-Black Troubles in Africa
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah, warned as far back as the 1960s that political independence from European colonial oppressors without economic independence was a recipe for disaster.Nkrumah, who authored The struggle continues, Class Struggle in Africa and Neo-colonialism – the last stage of imperialism, among […]
Refugees Being Shuttled from Libya to Rwanda
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – European nations are building a wall – a sea wall – to keep African migrants from reaching their shores. With funds paid by the European Union and cooperating African governments, refugees are being sent to distant centers where they are expected to make their asylum […]
‘Collective Security Act’ A Possible Way Out of the Iran Crisis
Viewpoint by René Wadlow*, TRANSCEND Media Service GENEVA (IDN) – It has often been mentioned that the Chinese characters for “crisis” is a combination of the characters for “danger” and for “opportunity”. Thus it is today for the Iran Crisis. The dangers are evident and have been around for a while. The Persian Gulf region […]
Government Exam for Journalists in Nepal Riles the Profession
By Kalinga Seneviratne KATHMANDU (IDN) – The democratically elected Communist Party government in this former Hindu Kingdom is trying to change decades old media laws that were enacted before the digital age and is running into opposition from journalists who fear that the government is trying to muzzle a free media. “The communist party came […]
UN Denies Endorsement of India in Nuclear Suppliers Group
By Shanta Roy NEW YORK (IDN) – India, Pakistan and Israel, three countries armed with nuclear weapons, are not recognized as nuclear weapon states by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) – a “privilege” bestowed only on the world’s five major nuclear powers: the U.S., UK, Russia, France and China, which are also members of the […]
After Kashmir Sikkim Buddhists Fear Losing Their Special Constitutional Rights
By Kalinga Seneviratne This article is the 34th in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate. Click here for previous articles. GANGTOK, Sikkim (IDN) – Since the special status accorded under section 370 in the Indian constitution to Jammu and Kashmir was abrogated by the […]