By Taro Ichikawa YOKOHAMA (IDN) – “I see Africa as a dynamic continent of opportunity where winds of hope are blowing ever stronger. TICAD has played a critical role in focusing international dialogue on Africa, built on the twin principles of African ownership and international partnership,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres kicking off the 7th […]
Peace Through Jazz Music
The Trumpet Is a ‘Cool’ Instrument to Unite People By Franck Kuwonu from Africa Renewal NEW YORK (IDN) – Each year, on April 30, music lovers around the world celebrate International Jazz Day to “honour jazz and its enduring legacy, as well as its power to bring people together,” says Audrey Azoulay, the director-general of […]
Reframing the History of Slavery in Angola and the U.S.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – If the U.S. has 35,000 museums, a writer asked in 2014, why is only one about slavery? And if the wealth of this country was built on the backs of enslaved people from Africa, why has that story been vastly under-reported in our media, in […]
Mozambique Embraces Russia’s Investment Efforts
By Kester Kenn Klomegah MOSCOW (IDN) – Keen to intensify and widen bilateral relations, Russia and Mozambique have signed several intergovernmental documents as well as business agreements during President Jacinto Filipe Nyusi’s visit here. Its highlights were talks with President Vladimir Putin and the Russian-Mozambican business forum, the first gathering of businesspersons from Russia and […]
Asia-Pacific Faces a Daunting Spectrum of Natural Hazards
New UN Report Warns of Huge Economic Losses By Devinder Kumar NEW DELHI | BANGKOK (IDN) – Vulnerable and marginalized communities are among the hardest hit by natural disasters that occurred in a relentless sequence in Asia and the Pacific in the past two years, beyond what the region had previously experienced or was able […]
How the Kashmir Debate in India Is Being Fuelled by Falsehoods
Viewpoint by A.G. Noorani India’s Union Home Minister Amit Shah claims that if it wasn’t for the country’s first prime minister Jawahar Lal Nehru, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir would have been in India’s possession. The truth is, if Kashmir is a part of India, it is almost entirely because of Nehru, writes A. G. Noorani, an Indian […]
Artificial Intelligence Offers Benefits for Africa
By Hugo Bourhis * NEW YORK (IDN | Africa Renewal) – When some people think of artificial intelligence (AI), they think of humanoid robots turning against their creators in an apocalyptic science fiction movie. In reality, AI is already playing an increasing role in many existing and evolving technologies, from driverless cars to translation software, […]
Diamonds Leave Sierra Leone Villagers Poor and Sick
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – Since the first diamonds were found in the 1930s, the villagers of Kono, in the eastern region of Sierra Leone, have seen the wealth under their feet make others rich. Instead of joy, the shiny stones have left a trail of contaminated water, pockmarked mud […]
DR Congo Violence Survivors Highlight Armed Militia Brutality
By Kwame Buist GENEVA (IDN) – Two months since hundreds of thousands of people fled violence in north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), UN humanitarians have warned that armed militia continue to make their safe return impossible. Briefing journalists in Geneva on August 16, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) spokesperson Babar Baloch said that staff […]
Rohingya Refugee Children Want to Learn, Says UNICEF
By Sean Buchanan NEW YORK (IDN) – The daily struggle to survive for Myanmar’s Rohingya people in some of the world’s largest refugee settlements has caused overwhelming despair and jeopardised the hopes of an entire generation, according to the head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Henrietta Fore. In a report marking two years since […]