 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – Do kids work in coal mines?
In 1910, an estimated 2 million American children under the age of 15 were working in factories and mines for low wages and long shifts. Photographs by Lewis Hine of New York revealed the depraved exploitation of children, some as young as 8 years of age, in fields and in mines. Child labor was finally outlawed in 1938.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – Marry Mubaiwa, estranged wife of Zimbabwe’s Vice President, faces a battery of charges – from fraud, money laundering to attempted murder – in a case that has startled even the most battle-hardened citizens.
Ms. Mubaiwa, 38, is accused of unlawfully transferring $919,000 to South Africa under the guise of importing goods, according to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) which, they believe, may have involved buying a home in the neighboring country.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – President Cyril Ramaphosa struck a note of optimism in his message on December 16 – the Day of Reconciliation and the anniversary of two major historical events, now celebrated as a public holiday.
Since the nation attained democracy, he said, citizens have showed the capacity to look beyond their differences “in the quest to achieve true nationhood”.
By Ronald Joshua
JOHANNESEBURG | MADRID (IDN) – Fewer lives were being lost as a result of natural disasters, because of advanced early warning systems. However, many cash-strapped African countries – including the small island states, bearing the brunt of climate change – are not benefiting from new technologies to develop early warning systems, said the climate expert John Harding at the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
By Fabíola Ortiz
MADRID (IDN) – As the UN Climate Change Conference COP25 moved toward an end, the African Group of Negotiators criticized the “very limited progress” of the climate talks and said “no deal is better than bad deal”.
“We are very very very worried about the balance of the outcome. We are concerned that what we are seeing now is regressing on implementing all the commitments we have under the Paris Agreement,” announced Ambassador Mohamed Nasr, Head of Environmental Affairs at Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs who led the African Group of Negotiators (AGN).
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – The stench of fish rot is wafting over Namibia. It’s taken down two Namibian ministers and leaves an Icelandic fisheries minister in the hot seat.
“A coterie of well-heeled vampires is sucking our fishing sector dry!” protested the local Namibian newspaper as news of the corrupt trading of valuable fishing quotas came to light.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK | BLOEMFONTEIN (IDN) – The modest home of the late Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in Brandfort, Free State, where she was forced to live when banished in 1977, has become a museum.
The Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Brandfort House Museum in Majwemasweu, Brandfort, is now complete, according to the national Department of Sports, Arts and Culture.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – The Right Livelihood Award, widely known as the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’ goes to five human rights activists this year. Among them is Aminatou Haidar of the Western Sahara.
Ms. Haidar receives the Right Livelihood Award “for her steadfast nonviolent action, despite imprisonment and torture, in pursuit of justice and self-determination for the people of Western Sahara”, according to organizers of the event in Stockholm, Sweden on December 4.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – On the occasion of World Aids Day on December 1, South African health minister Zweli Mkhize announced the roll-out of a new state-of-the-art antiretroviral drug which, he said, should drastically reduce the number of people living with HIV.
The roll-out could start as soon as this month. A modified three-in-one pill was hailed as a ‘game-changer’, much needed in South Africa where 7.7 million South Africans are living with HIV.
We promote a sustainable future and culture of peace through our news reports, analyses, feature stories and viewpoints. We focus on UN’s sustainable development goals and a nuclear-weapons free world. We contribute to international understanding.
