By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK, 30 May 2023 (IDN) — Bolu Ahmed Tinubu, who eked out a controversial win in the nation’s recent elections, now faces a near insurmountable challenge—to quell the violence gripping the country, wielded by various groups of assorted loyalties. “The degree of insecurity in Nigeria is unprecedented,” wrote […]
Asian Leaders Call for Unity to Confront West’s “De-Risking” Strategy
Analysis by Kalinga Seneviratne SINGAPORE, 28 May 2023 (IDN) — The international media may have focused on the attempts at the G7 meeting this month in Hiroshima to unite against China promoting a “de-risking” strategy, which China sees as “containment” of their economic rise. It seems many Asian leaders agree with China.
Islamic Jihad Emerging as Most Eminent Threat from Gaza
By Manish Rai* SYDNEY, 27 May 2023 (IDN) — The ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) has taken effect in the Gaza Strip after days of cross-border fighting. The confrontation left at least 33 Palestinians dead in Gaza and at least two people in Israel. But most importantly in the Israeli military’s […]
India Partners with the South Pacific University
Climate Change Research Center Launched By Joeli Bili* SUVA, Fiji, 26 May 2023 (IDN | Wansolwara) — A partnership forged between the Government of India and The University of the South Pacific (USP) will see the establishment of a new center for climate change, coastal and ocean management in Fiji. The Sustainable Coastal and Ocean […]
Nigeria: Chef Cooks Battle on Eve of Political Transition
By Azu Ishiekwene The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria. ABUJA, 26 May 2023 (IDN) — After weeks of being at daggers drawn over the results of the last general elections and with only days to the inauguration of a new government on May 29, one of Nigeria’s three […]
Humanitarian Aid to Africa Falls Far Short of Target
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, 25 May 2023 (IDN) — At a UN sponsored high-level meeting, donors collectively pledged about $2.4 billion in “life-saving and life-sustaining assistance” to nearly 32 million people across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia plagued by five consecutive poor rainy seasons. But the pledges—from 28 donors out of the 193 UN member […]
Poor Countries Face Collapse Over Unsustainable Borrowing
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK, 22 May 2023 (IDN) — African countries that borrowed billions of dollars from international creditors and private lenders face painful repayment demands that threaten their budgets for schools, power, food and fuel. After nail-biting negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ghana’s Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta announced […]
Ex-Nigerian Leader Ordered To Explain Loan For Crime-Stopping Project
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK, 22 May 2023 (IDN) — Outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari has been ordered to account for a $460 million loan from a Chinese bank to pay for a closed circuit TV (CCTV) project that failed to materialize. Minister of Finance Zainab Ahmed reportedly has been unable to explain […]
How Myanmar’s Arms Purchases Circumvent Sanctions
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, 18 May 2023 (IDN) — The much-maligned military regime in Myanmar, accused of genocide and human rights abuses, is being sustained by nearly a billion dollars’ worth of arms—plus raw materials to manufacture weapons—originating primarily from China and Russia, two permanent members of the Security Council, along with Singapore, Thailand […]
Thai People Want Change. And the Conservative-Military Elite?
By Jan Servaes* BRUSSELS, 16 May 2023 (IPS) — 39.5 million (or 75% of registered) Thai voters flocked to the polls on 14 May in a hotly contested election that will determine whether Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha, the general who seized power in a 2014 coup, will be overthrown by his rivals. There is a […]