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 […]
Supporting Local Energy Access Projects Across East Africa
By Radwan Jakeem This article is part of reports by the UN SDG Media Compact of which IDN is a member. NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – UN Secretary-General António Guterres has repeatedly said that it is time to end the fallacy that subsidizing fossil fuels is a way to improve people’s lives, and has called for […]
UN Appoints ‘Ebola Chief’ As the Menace of Deadly Virus Grows
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – “We have no time to lose.” That’s the new mantra at the United Nations as the spread of the deadly Ebola virus in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo now appears almost unstoppable. In a move to bolster efforts to contain the growing outbreak […]
A Pioneering Voice in African Literature Dies
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – Binyavanga Wainaina, one of Africa’s best-known authors and gay rights activist, has died in Nairobi after a short illness. He was 48. Wainaina won the 2002 Caine prize for African writing. Credited with founding the literary magazine and collective Kwani? and advancing the fight for […]
Congo Seeks Closer Relations with Russia on All Fronts
By Kester Kenn Klomegah MOSCOW (IDN) – Russia and the Republic of Congo have enjoyed good bilateral relations over more than five decades. But, as President Denis Sassou-Nguesso’s talks at the Kremlin reveal, there are still prospects for strengthening ties between the two countries, especially in the economic and security spheres. This was affirmed by […]
Forced Displacement in Africa Not Just a Tale of Human Tragedy
By Sean Buchanan NEW YORK (IDN) – The estimated 24 million and more Africans who have been forced from their homes in recent years is placing a growing burden on the continent’s economy, environment and communities hosting those displaced. This was the backdrop to a May 21-23 event held at UN headquarters as part of […]
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, […]
Child Hunger Threatens Africa’s Social and Economic Future
By Ronald Joshua ADDIS ABABA (IDN) – Africa’s future economic and social progress is under threat from alarmingly high levels of child hunger, and the severity and scale of the problem is such that it requires nothing short of a radical and transformative political and economic agenda, according to a new study released at the […]
The Controversy about Massive Ebola Outbreak in DR Congo
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – The risk of Ebola spreading in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) remains “very high”, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on May 20. This warning follows a recent spike in the number of infections due to the […]