By Kalinga Seneviratne This article is the 37th in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate. Click here for previous articles. BANGKOK (IDN) – On a Saturday morning a couple drives into the Santi Asoke community in the north-eastern outskirts of Bangkok, and walks into […]
Western Sahara Rights Activist Awarded Major Peace Prize
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – The Right Livelihood Award, widely known as the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’ goes to five human rights activists this year. Among them is Aminatou Haidar of the Western Sahara. Ms. Haidar receives the Right Livelihood Award “for her steadfast nonviolent action, despite imprisonment and torture, in […]
Africa Forum Urges Investors to Support Inclusive Development
By Bernhard Schell CAIRO (IDN) – “I stand here on behalf of the United Nations system and reaffirm our strong commitment to the member states and the people of Africa,” Secretary-General António Guterres told the 30th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU), adding: “I strongly believe Africa is one of the […]
Papal Visit to Japan Revives Debate About Death Penalty
By Katsuhiro Asagiri TOKYO (IDN) – An international conference “No Justice Without Life” has called on Japan to halt all executions next year, the year of the Olympic Games. Japan is one of the 56 nations which retains capital punishment, also known as the death penalty or death sentence for capital crimes. In fact, Japan, […]
Supreme Court Attempts to Destabilize the Pakistan Govt.
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali* FREMONT, California, USA (IDN) – The Supreme Court of Pakistan on November 28 limited the three years extension in the term of Army Chief of Staff General (COAS) Qamar Javed Bajwa to six month. A three-member court bench led by the Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, who retires in less […]
Tropical African Plants Facing Extinction
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – A new study warns that a third of tropical African plants are on the path to extinction, with much of western Africa standing to lose more than 40 percent of plant diversity. Ethiopia, and parts of Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are […]
Ethiopia‘s Fragile Union Threatened as Sidama People Vote for Self-Government
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – Some of the 80 ethnic groups that form the nation of Ethiopia are demanding great autonomy and are voting with their feet for self-government. The Sidama people voted overwhelmingly in November to become self-governing, casting 98.5 percent of the votes backing the change. The Sidama […]
The Humanitarian Emergency the World is Ignoring
By Kwame Buist ROME (IDN) – Almost daily violent attacks in the Sahel nations of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have displaced nearly one million people and caused emergency levels of malnutrition, the World Food Programme (WFP) has warned. “Conflict is moving forward and moving fast,” says Margot van der Velden, Director of WFP’s Emergencies […]
Risks Grow For African Leaders Seeking Extended Term
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – It’s not a piece of cake these days for leaders of African countries plotting to rewrite their constitutions and give themselves another decade or two in power, frustrating efforts by citizen groups to give other leaders a chance to rule. That’s the endgame facing Guinean […]
South African Airlines in Crisis Mode as Workers Strike
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – Unions representing more than half of South African Airways (SAA) workforce called a strike last week after the airline refused to meet wage and job security demands. The unions, representing more than 3,000 workers, walked out on November 15 after the state-owned airline rejected their […]