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 […]
New Initiative Helps Tackling Clean Cooking Crisis in Rwanda
By Kizito Makoye KIGALI (IDN) – At a bustling neighbourhood, nestled on the rolling hills of Nyamirambo, southwest of the Rwandan capital city, Kigali every woman has a story to tell about a smart cooker and how it has removed hardship when someone is preparing a meal. “It’s such a good stove, it doesn’t emit […]
The Unique Sights & Sounds of Sri Lanka Come Alive in America
By Nandasiri (Nandi) Jasentuliyana The writer is Former Deputy Director General, United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV), Director, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, and President Emeritus, International Institute of Space Law & Policy. NEW YORK (IDN) – When the annual Sri Lanka Day was celebrated in the historic city of Pasadena, Sri […]
Kashmir Crisis Forebodes a New World Order in the Making
Viewpoint by James M. Dorsey James M. Dorsey – a senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, an adjunct senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute and co-director of the University of Wuerzburg’s Institute of Fan Culture – offered this viewpoint to IDN. SINGAPORE (IDN) […]