News Media

Photo: Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan and Head of the Secretariat of the Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions. Credit: The Astana Times.

Leaders of World and Traditional Religions Gather in Astana for Inclusive Dialogue

Viewpoint by Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

The author, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, is Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan and Head of the Secretariat of the Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions. This opinion article first appeared on The Astana Times on October 5, 2018, and is being reproduced courtesy the prestigious Kazakh newspaper. IDN-INPS are providing a special coverage of the conference, including videos interviews and features. – The Editor.

ASTANA (IDN-INPS) – The Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions is a unique interfaith forum, convened every three years in Astana at the initiative of President Nursultan Nazarbayev. For 15 years, this forum has played an important role in the rapprochement of cultures and civilisations, in searching for answers to the key challenges of our time. “Religious Leaders for a Safe World” is the main topic of the Sixth Congress, which will be held October 10-11 in the capital of Kazakhstan.

: Ramesh Jaura; OPINION; 08 October 2018

Photo: Kazakh President Nazarbayev delivering State of the Union address on October 5, 2018.

Kazakhstan Still Has a Lot of Heights to Climb

By Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Following are extensive excerpts from Kazakh President's State of the Nation address on October 5, 2018 in the Akorda presidential residence.

ASTANA (IDN | KAZINFORM) – Over the years of our independence we have achieved a great deal.

Having created a modern progressive state with a dynamic economy, we have ensured peace and public harmony.

We have made qualitative and historically significant structural, constitutional and political reforms.

We have managed to strengthen the international standing of Kazakhstan and its geopolitical role in the region.

: Ramesh Jaura; CENTRAL ASIA; 06 October 2018

Photo: Sculpture depicting St. George slaying the dragon. The dragon is created from fragments of Soviet SS-20 and United States Pershing nuclear missiles. UN Photo/Milton Grant

Peacebuilders for a Nuclear-Weapon Free World

Viewpoint by Rene Wadlow*

GENEVA (IDN) – As the world celebrated the UN-designated International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on September 26, there were still some 16,000 nuclear weapons in the world, largely in the hands of the United States and the Russian Federation, some on “ready alert”.

There are plans to “modernise” nuclear weapons, and there are at least seven other states with nuclear weapons: North Korea, Pakistan, India and China in Asia, Israel in the Middle East and France and the United Kingdom in Europe.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 27 September 2018

Photo: Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta (left) with the Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) at the Great Hall of the $3.8 billion cost of the Naivasha-Kisumu phase of the Standard Gauge Railway to be provided as part of grant financing. Credit: Xinhua/Yin Bogu.

African Countries Seek Relief from Burgeoning Chinese Loans

By Allan Olingo

In the past 15 years, Beijing has written off more than $2 billion worth of debt advanced to African countries, says Allan Olingo, an accomplished business journalist from Kenya. This article first appeared in The East African on September 17, 2018.

NAIROBI (IDN-INPS) – Some African countries are now seeking to write off their loans from China while others are offering concessions using their natural resources and assets to manage their ballooning debt.

A new report by the U.S.-based Centre for Global Development shows that China’s loans to Africa, currently standing in excess of $14 billion, continue to rise, putting a strain on borrowers and posing the risk of default.

: IDN-INPS Middle East & Africa Editor; THE WORLD; Africa; 20 September 2018

Photo: Chinese President Xi Jinping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Credit: PTI

Afrophobia and Racism Keep India Trailing Behind China

By Shastri Ramachandaran

The author is an independent journalist writing on political and foreign affairs. This article first appeared in NewsClick that claims to be an alternative to the corporate media in India on July 27, 2018, and is being reproduced by the permission of the author who give editorial support to IDN-INPS editor. – The Editor.

NEW DELHI (IDN-INPS) – Prime Minister Narendra Modi's current outreach to Africa, including his participation in the 10th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, is perhaps the right juncture to take a close look at India-Africa relations since he assumed office in 2014.

: Shastri Ramachandran; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 18 September 2018

Photo: Kofi Annan views one of the displays at the exhibit on the Permanent Forum for Indigenous Issues. To his right is Shashi Tharoor, Under-Secretary-General for the Department of Public Information. 24 May 2002. United Nations, New York. UN Photo/Mark Garten.

Kofi Annan: A Man of Rare Warmth, Wit and Wisdom

By Shashi Tharoor

Those who worked with him and those whose lives he touched knew the former United Nations Secretary-General possessed a rare ingredient not always found in successful men – he was a wonderful human being, writes Shashi Tharoor, former UN Under-Secretary-General under Kofi Annan, currently a Member of Parliament in India. This article first appeared on South China Morning Post on August 23, 2018 and is being republished with a view to disseminating more widely the impressions and views of one of Annan's close confidantes. Read the original here.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; United Nations; 29 August 2018

Photo credit: Lesotho's MMN Centre for Investigative Journalism.

Thirteen-Year-Old Defies Family, Escapes Forced Marriage

By Billy Ntaote

This report is part of a series on Human Trafficking by MNN Centre for Investigative Journalism in Lesotho.

MASERU (IDN) – For people living in the rural parts of the country, early child marriage doesn't exist – but when a teenager is impregnated, families rush to organise a traditional wedding ceremony and it's a deal done.

This common, yet cruel practice perpetrated on the girl child continues in rural parts of Lesotho with the unsuspecting victims – socialised to believe it is their only way out of poverty and hunger – married-off in exchange for either a herd of cattle or cash in bride-wealth.

: IDN-INPS Middle East & Africa Editor; THE WORLD; Africa; 11 August 2018

Photo: Nikki R. Haley, Permanent Representative of the United States to the UN, addressing the Security Council meeting on 9 July 2018. Credit: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe.

Nikki Haley Blames Rights Groups for Her Misguided 'Reform'

By Kenneth Roth

Kenneth Roth is the executive director of Human Rights Watch, one of the world's leading international human rights organizations, which operates in more than 90 countries. This article was published in The Hill on 29 July 2018.

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – Shortly after arriving in New York as Donald Trump’s representative to the United Nations, Nikki Haley said she would be “taking names” of those who stood in her way. Most assumed she was referring to governments that blocked U.S. initiatives at the United Nations Security Council.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 02 August 2018

Photo: Putin gifts Trump a Telstar Mechta, the official match ball for the knockout stage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. CC BY 4.0

The Media Is Misleading On Trump's Remarks in Helsinki

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – I don't think I've ever witnessed in all my years of journalism such a hysterical outpouring against a presidential statement as I've seen in the aftermath of Helsinki summit. President Donald Trump has even been accused of treason by prominent columnists and politicians. There’s barely a voice of dissent in the media. (Maybe it's written but not published.) No wonder that even some of my normally open-minded friends feel that things are as bad as they are made out to be. Sorry to say it, as I've told them, they are being brainwashed.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 24 July 2018

Photo: Vladimir Putin (right) and Donald Trump (left) at a news conference after their summit meeting in Helsinki on July 16, 2018. Credit: en.kremlin.ru

A U.S.-Russia Summit That Left Trump In The Hot Seat

Viewpoint by Somar Wijayadasa*

NEW YORK (IDN | INPS) – In a historic bilateral summit, the United States President Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on July 16, 2018. The summit took place notwithstanding myriad objections, conjectures and apprehensions from many U.S. political leaders who oppose rapprochement with Russia over a plethora of issues: Crimea, East Ukraine, Syria, and Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Just two days before the summit, the U.S. Justice Department indicted 12 Russians for interfering in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, giving impetus to a steady drumbeat of demands that Trump cancel the meeting. The New York Times reported, "according to an internal government document, the U.S. has imposed sanctions on 213 Russian-related targets".