By Jeffrey Moyo BLANTYRE, Malawi (IDN) – In Karonga, a district in the northern region of Malawi, 32-year old Mavis Banda, a mother of three daughters busies herself drawing safe drinking water from a borehole located at the heart of her village. Banda and several other villagers claimed they long abandoned a local well where […]
Scepticism About President Duterte’s New Unit to Protect Overseas Filipinos
By Kalinga Seneviratne MANILA (IDN) – With his approval ratings at an all-time high for a Filipino leader, President Rodrigo Duterte has thrown his weight behind a proposal by his former aide and newly-elected Senator Christopher “Bong’ Go to create a new government department for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) who are the major foreign exchange […]
An Aborted University and Squandered Opportunity in Sri Lanka
Viewpoint by Dr. Ameer Ali A modern Muslim university is an absolute need of our time, and it will be a sound first step to reform even the madrasas eventually, writes Dr. Ameer Ali, a lecturer in economics at the School of Business and Governance, Murdoch University, Western Australia. The aborted university project in Punanai, […]
Outrage After German Ambassador to India Visits Paramilitary RSS Headquarters
By OFMI* This article is the eighth in a series of joint productions of South Asian Outlook and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate. NAGPUR, India (IDN) — Controversy is raging after Germany’s Ambassador to India, Walter Lindner, visited the Nagpur, Maharashtra headquarters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on July 17 despite the […]
Reintegrating Moroccan Male in National and Global Interest
Viewpoint by Caleb Tisdale* MARRAKECH (IDN) – Attracting young people to radical, extremist ideas is not hard. Just ask the ISIS recruiters behind one of the most effective propaganda presences in the world. Extremist groups are so effective at recruitment because the target audience is easily identified and appealed to: those who are at the […]
Times Pummeled Over Job Posting Called Offensive by Africans
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – The New York Times is still recovering from the verbal bashing it received from Kenyan writers shocked and angered by the paper’s outdated references to Africa in a recent ad for the job of Nairobi Bureau Chief. How far has Africa come, wondered educator Alice […]
Quarter of Pacific Islanders Living Below ‘Basic Needs Poverty Lines’
By Sean Buchanan NEW YORK (IDN) – While there has been progress on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) over the past four years, some vulnerable small island developing states (SIDs), such as those in the Pacific, are losing momentum in the run-up to 2030. In 2015, the United Nations set out a vision for […]
Intra-Afghan Dialogue Seen as A Step Towards Peace
By R. Maxwell Bone The writer is Vice President for Political Affairs, Democracy, and Governance at the International Institute for Peace, Democracy, and Development (IIPDD). He lives in Washington, DC. Follow him on Twitter @maxbone55. WASHIGTON, DC (IDN) – A broad delegation of representatives from Afghan society partook in an Intra-Afghan dialogue session with the […]
Germany and EU Encouraged by Afghan Talks in Doha
Afghanistan On the Long Road to Trust and Reconciliation By Rita Joshi BERLIN (IDN) – As a friend to Afghanistan, Germany has supported efforts to achieve peace in the country for many years. After 40 years of almost constant violence, the main prerequisites for peace, according to the German Foreign Office, are “a willingness to […]
West Africa ‘Least Committed’ in Africa to Fighting Inequality
By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | NEW YORK (IDN) – “African countries, especially those in West Africa, are simply not doing enough” to “ensure that no one is left behind”, declares a new report, unveiling shocking figures that underline extreme inequality and poverty rampant in the region. West Africa is the African region “least committed to […]