By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | NAIROBI. 11 September 2023 (IDN) — In a first for African leaders grappling with climate issues from droughts to floods, a summit was convened from 4-6 September in Nairobi, Kenya, with a focus on mobilizing the finances desperately needed for extreme weather, conserving natural resources and […]
Indonesia Favours “Cooperation” as Tensions Simmer at ASEAN Summit
By Kalinga Seneviratne SINGAPORE. 9 September 2023 (IDN) — At the just concluded ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) summit in Jakarta, President of Indonesia Joko Widodo pleaded with the world’s big powers to “strengthen cooperation, not sharpen rivalries”. “I don’t know how many words of peace and stability we utter at every meeting… […]
Establishment of a U.S.-ASEAN Center in Washington, D.C.
JAKARTA. 6 September 2023 (IDN) — At the U.S.-ASEAN Summit in Indonesia on September 6, US Vice President Harris joined with the leaders of ASEAN in announcing their intent to establish, through a public-private partnership, a U.S.-ASEAN Center in Washington, D.C. To that end, the State Department has established a public-private partnership with Arizona State […]
People Behind Locked Gates Die in Building Fire in Jo’burg
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | JOHANNESBURG. 5 September 2023 (IDN) — After one of the worst residential fires in South Africa’s history, little remains of the overcrowded building in Johannesburg that sheltered some 200 Africans. Some called it a death trap and a disaster waiting to happen. The fire that began […]
African Union Condemns An ‘Epidemic’ of Coups, Dismissing Citizen Claims of Misrule
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK. 5 September 2023 (IDN) — African leaders holding office for 20, 30 or 40 years after questionable elections are battening down the hatches as their grip on power and consumption of the nation’s riches seems unlikely to go unchallenged for long. This so-called “resurgence of coups” […]
Tel Aviv Riots Upend Eritrea’s Historic Ties to The Jewish Community
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | TEL AVIV. 4 September 2023 (IDN) — Violent clashes in Tel Aviv over the weekend between supporters and opponents of the Eritrean regime of Isaias Afwerki threaten to break ties between Jews and Eritreans dating back to the 19th century. Some 170 people were injured in […]
China’s Shandong Province Expands Its Footprint to The Pacific
By Kalinga Seneviratne SUVA, Fiji. 2 September 2023 (IDN) — A high-powered delegation of Chinese ocean and marine scientists and Asia-Pacific scholars from Shandong Province visited Fiji promoting South-South cooperation to mitigate climatic change—Pacific Islands’ biggest security threat. Facilitated by the Chinese Embassy here, Shandong Province and Fiji signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to […]
Group Snubs Chance to Reset Peace and Justice for West Papua
By David Robie, Editor of Asia Pacific Report AUCKLAND. 1 September 2023 (IDN) — The ‘Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG)’ has thrown away a golden chance for achieving a historical step towards justice and peace in West Papua by lacking the courage to accept the main Papuan self-determination advocacy movement as full members. MSG comprises four […]
Thailand Is Open Again for Business and Tourism
By Jan Servaes* BRUSSELS. 31 August 2023 (IDN) — With the arrival of the government of real estate magnate Srettha Thavisin on 28 August 2023, the Thai political theatre seems to be entering the next phase. As I feared in previous posts, this phase makes the 14 May election results look like a joke. The […]
BRICS Jumps to Africa’s Rescue
By Jeffrey Moyo HARARE, Zimbabwe. 29 August 2023 (IDN) — The three-day BRICS Summit from 22-24 August 2023 in South Africa has raised hopes across the African continent that a new deal for development aid to Africa could be taking shape that will be more fair and equitable. For decades, critics have pointed out that […]