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 […]
African Athlete with Disabilities Captures the Gold at Tokyo Paralympic Games
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — “Please know this: as you dive into the water, as you prepare to throw, as you step into the arena, know that you are not alone.” With those words of encouragement, over 180 athletes from the African continent were entered in this year’s 2020 Olympic […]
From War Hero to Sports Hero — Inspirational Story of Sri Lanka’s Paralympics Gold Medallist
By Mohan Srilal COLOMBO (IDN) — Sri Lanka’s latest sporting hero Dinesh Priyantha Herath is expected to touch down in Sri Lanka to a red-carpet airport welcome on Tuesday. The life story of the F46 Javelin Throw gold medalist at the Tokyo Paralympics is an inspirational one of how to overcome disabilities both economic and […]
US Investors to Explore Opportunities in AfCFTA
By Kester Kenn Klomegah MOSCOW (IDN) — United States investors are looking forward to exploring several opportunities in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), a policy signed by African countries to make the continent a single market. Speaking at the 13th US-Africa Business Summit from July 27 to July 29, organised by the Corporate […]
Filipino Medal Winners at Tokyo Olympics Show Sports Could Empower The “Economically Disabled”
By Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY (IDN) — As the Paralympics begin in Tokyo—a celebration of the athletics prowess of the “differently-abled”—it will be appropriate to look at how the Tokyo Olympic Games that concluded on August 8 empowered the “economically disabled” athletes from the Philippines—a Southeast Asian country not well-known for its sporting prowess except for […]
Australian Farmers Cry Out for Foreign Labour as Locals Shun “Slave Wages”
By Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY (IDN) — Australia’s farming sector has been badly hit by the closing of the borders due to the Covid-19 pandemic and with the harvesting season on the horizon there is an estimated shortage of 25,000 fruit pickers and harvesting machinery operators across Australia. While the farmers are asking the government to […]