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Viewpoint by Julia Rohe-Frydrych and Luis Ebert
BERLIN (IDN) — Markets have not been kind to biodiversity. Activities up and down the economic value chain take an enormous toll on the planet’s ecological riches, and many people believe conservation and private-sector commerce are mutually opposed. In recent years, some conservationists and economists have started to argue that biodiversity is essential to long-term business survival.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) — The trial of the accused killers of Thomas Sankara, revolutionary leader of Burkina Faso—including his former friend Blaise Compaore who succeeded him as president and went on to rule for 27 years— has now been adjourned to October 25 after defense lawyers asked for more time to prepare their case. It was to have opened on October 11 in the capital Ouagadougou.
Fourteen men are being tried over the assassination in 1987. Near the Thomas Sankara memorial site, many expressed the hope that the trial would shed light on his murder.
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power
LUND, Sweden (IDN) — Whenever I introduced Munir Khan to a friend I would say light-heartedly “and this is the father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb,” just to enjoy the pleasure of watching the reaction. Khan himself would give a self-deprecatory smile. As Hans Blix, the former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the world’s nuclear policeman, put it to me, Khan was “a cheerful soul.”
By Franck Kuwonu, UN Information Officer
NEW YORK (IDN | Africa Renewal) — BMS7 took place in New York, in July. In this interview with Africa Renewal’s Franck Kuwonu, Ambassador Kimani, chair of the Seventh Biennial Meeting of States (BMS7) to consider the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (PoA) and its international Tracing Instrument (ITI), talks about the proliferation of dangerous firearms in Africa, and welcomes efforts to trace ammunitions. These are excerpts from the interview.
Viewpoint by Jorge Heine
This article was issued by Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission.
WATERLOO, ON Canada (IDN) — One joke making the rounds in Kabul’s diplomatic circles these days is that the power transition in Kabul from the Ghani government to that of the Taliban was smoother than the one that took place in Washington D.C. earlier this year. That may be a (slight) exaggeration, but there is little doubt that the swiftness with which the Taliban entered the Afghan capital caught most observers by surprise.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) — Celebratory messages of love and appreciation for Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu poured in from across the world on the Nobel Peace laureate’s 90th birthday on October 7.
A week’s worth of events culminated on his birthday with the 11th Desmond Tutu International Peace Lecture delivered this year by four global leaders.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) — Out of 118 Nobel Prize laureates between 1901 and 2021, only six have gone to African writers with only two to Black Africans. So, there was a measure of celebration, excitement, and pride when this year’s prize was awarded to Zanzibar-born writer Abdulrazak Gurnah.
By Rita Joshi
BONN (IDN) — People all over the world celebrated on October 9 World Migratory Bird Day, a global campaign that aims to raise awareness of migratory birds and the need for international cooperation to conserve them.
Two environmental treaties—the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) and the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) — and the non-profit organization, Environment for the Americas (EFTA), joined the UN-backed campaign.
By Jamshed Baruah
GENEVA (IDN | UNCTAD) — Barbados, Belize and Costa Rica are looking beyond the pandemic and climate shocks by developing and implementing national trade strategies strongly linked to resilience, conservation and the sustainable use of their marine resources.
A regional experience-sharing workshop held on September 23-24 highlighted the need to adopt, elaborate and implement evidence-based and policy-coherent oceans economy and trade strategies (OETS) under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) framework.
By Kester Kenn Klomegah*
MOSCOW (IDN) — Russian and foreign media have stepped up reports about rising Covid-19 infections. The reports also indicate high deaths in the country. Some new trends are noticeable. Interestingly, Tourism and Travel agencies have revealed that vaccine uptake has lagged in Russia and worse, due largely to mistrust, so many Russians are lining up for vaccine tourism in Serbia, Bulgaria and Germany and a few other foreign countries.
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