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Viewpoint by Jonathan Power
LUND, Sweden (IDN) — The lorries have no drivers. The supermarket shelves are emptying. The poor are having their subsidies cut. The British government ties itself in knots trying to square what is a circle in Northern Ireland. Brexit—the leaving of the EU—is failing the nation.
But Europe itself is not failing. In fact, it is about to get stronger.
By Lisa Vives
Global Information Network
New YORK (IDN) — In the years he’s been president, Rwandan President Paul Kagame has never learned to love free speech on the internet. Long before the trial of prominent YouTube commentator and genocide survivor, Yvonne Idamange, the President issued a dire warning: “Those that you hear speak on the internet, whether they are in America, in South Africa, or in France, they think they are far.
By Lisa Vives
Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) — Facing a devastating report by the World Health Organization (WHO) acknowledging sexual exploitation of Congolese women by WHO and local staff, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi has called for a "frank" judicial collaboration between national and international authorities on the matter.
By Lisa Vives
Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) — The consortium of cross-border journalists that produced the massive investigation into corruption known as the Panama Papers has released a new work that digs into the proliferation of offshore accounts, the mechanisms used to hide money and the millionaires and billionaires quietly siphoning money into private accounts. The just-released Pandora Papers detail an opaque financial universe where the global elite shield riches from taxes, criminal probes and public accountability.
Viewpoint by Amin Saikal
This article was issued by Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission.
SINGAPORE (IDN) — The defeat of the United States and its allies and return to power of the Taliban in Afghanistan have changed the regional landscape. The configuration of forces has shifted in favour of Pakistan as the Taliban’s patron and China as a strategic partner of Pakistan, confronting India, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Central Asian Republics and the main power behind them, Russia, with certain policy quandaries. Yet not all is lost, as both Islamabad and Beijing may find that Afghanistan is a very difficult country to govern and sustain.
By Thalif Deen
NEW YORK (IDN) — Ethiopia’s decision last week to expel seven UN officials, including senior humanitarian officials from the politically troubled African nation, generated an implicit warning to all 193 member states: do not kick out any UN officials for political reasons or declare them “persona non grata”.
By Radwan Jakeem
NEW YORK (IDN) — Lebanon has been assured critical life-saving assistance and protection to some 1.1 million citizens and migrants over the next 12 months. The UN and humanitarian partners have announced an Emergency Response Plan (ERP) worth $383 million.
The ERP covers 119 projects in the sectors of education, food security, health, nutrition, water and sanitation, child protection and protection against gender-based violence.
Viewpoint by Shastri Ramachandaran*
NEW DELHI (IDN) — Recent developments—such as the pandemic’s impact, the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, its nuclear submarine deal with Australia and the release of Huawei’s CFO Meng Wanzhou—once again raise the question of whether the US remains the world’s sole superpower with its hegemony unchallenged. As is the wont in matters concerning the United States, analysts are divided on the subject, as they have been since the global financial crisis of 2008.
By Pattama Vilailert
BANGKOK(IDN) — Thailand’s famous tourist industry has been synonymous with its traditional massage parlours and treatment centres. But the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns are having a serious impact on the industry and may force foreign takeovers. The continuous lockdowns have impacted savagely on the spa and massage business.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) — Hotel Rwanda hero Paul Rusesabagina has been sentenced to 25 years in prison on terror charges despite pleas from human rights watchdogs and other critics of Rwanda’s repressive government to lessen the judgement or cancel it.
Rusesabagina was credited with sheltering more than a thousand ethnic Tutsis during Rwanda’s 1994 genocide and was a recipient of the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom. He boycotted the announcement of the verdict after calling the trial a “sham.”
IDN-InDepthNews offers news analyses, features, reports and viewpoints that impact the world and its peoples. It has been online since 2009. Its network spans countries around the world.