Our Better World LUISIANA, Philippines (IDN/OBW) — Each day, Maria’s Kitchen, a bakery in Laguna, sells tray after tray of ube cheese pandesal (cheese and yam infused bread rolls) and other breads and cakes. But there is more to these baked goods than belly-rubbing yumminess; the simple and elegant pandan leaf boxes that bear them […]
NGOs Urge Donor Governments to Intervene to Stop New Logging Plans on The Congo Rainforest
By Devendra Kamarajan NAIROBI | KINSHASA (IDN) — Ahead of international donors announcing a 1 USD billion forest protection agreement with the Democratic Republic of Congo, NGOs are urging that such funding for the Central African country should be conditional on a moratorium on any logging concessions, reports Greenpeace. The ban has stood since 2002 […]
Liberia To Mark Year-Long Bicentennial Celebration Beginning January 2022
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network New York (IDN) — On February 5, 1820, the first organized group of emigrating freed slaves departed from New York to Freetown, Sierra Leone, in West Africa. Next year, Liberia will mark the date with a bicentennial celebration beginning January 2022 and running through December 2022, according to a […]
A VAT War Between Nigeria’s Federal Govt. and Rivers State
Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria. ABUJA (IDN) — The guns of Nigeria’s three-year civil war were silenced 51 years ago, but in the battle for a truly federal state, the echoes of warfare have never been more resonant. On August 10, Rivers State, […]
Alternative Noble Prize Recognition for Pakistan’s Islamic Community Development Pioneer
By Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY (IDN) — One of the five winners of this year’s Ramon Magsaysay Awards—known as Asia’s Nobel Prizes—is Dr Muhammad Amjad Saquib the founder of Pakistan’s biggest community development network Akhuwat that is based on Islamic principles of sharing and brotherhood. Launched in 2001, hundreds of thousands of poor families have been […]
Billionaire To Lead Morocco After Defeat of Islamists
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — A billionaire appointed by Morocco’s King Mohammed VI, will lead a new government after long-ruling Islamists were defeated in parliamentary elections. Businessman Aziz Akhannouch of the National Rally of Moroccan Independents (RNI), one of the country’s richest men with a fortune estimated at $2 billion, […]
Guinean Soldiers at The Helm After Autocratic President Is Detained
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — Young military officers who ousted Guinea’s President Alpha Condé on September 5 are wasting no time taking on the duties of heads of state. Meetings have been scheduled with leaders of political parties and religious groups to be followed by civil society organizations and representatives […]
Bangladesh’s “Affordable Vaccine Pioneer” Wins Asia’s Nobel Prize
By Amitava Chowdhury KOLKATTA (IDN) — One of 2021 Ramon Magsaysay Awards—known as ‘Asia’s Nobel Prize’—has been awarded to the Bangladeshi scientist Dr Firdausi Qadri who has played a “key role” in creating more affordable vaccines to combat cholera and typhoid, the Manila-based award foundation said in a statement on August 31. The 70-year-old female […]
23,000 Refugees Returned to Libya, Mass Surveillance of Migrants in Europe, Tigray Facing Famine
By Reinhard Jacobsen BRUSSELS (IDN) — The Elders address the UN Security Council (UNSC) on Tigray; refugees in Ethiopia approved for resettlement reportedly refused departure; UN urges opening of Tigray for aid; 29 Tigrayan bodies found between Sudan and Ethiopia; 5,000 Ethiopian migrants blocked in Yemen; Ethiopia is facing competing alliances; over 23,000 refugees returned […]
Famed Ugandan University Building to Be Demolished a Year After Fire
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — The Cabinet of Uganda has resolved to demolish what remains of the Makerere University main building—one year after a devastating fire consumed the historic building in flames. Minister Chris Baryomunsi said the structure will be rebuilt. “We have also directed the Minister of finance to […]