THE WORLD

Photo. 1986 Nobel Prize winner in Literature Wole Soyinka during a lecture at Stockholm Public Library on October 4, 2018. CC BY-SA 4.0

Nobel Laureate Soyinka’s ‘Searing Political Satire’ Of Nigeria Today

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — The first Black African laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature has a precious gift for his place of birth. It’s a new book, his first novel in 50 years, scheduled to land on the 60th anniversary of Nigerian independence.

“I wanted this to be my present to the nation,” the 87-year-old Wole Soyinka told a reporter in a recent interview. “To the people who live here: both the governed and those who govern, the exploiters and the exploited.”

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 01 October 2021

Photo: EU and Chinese delegations negotiating. Credit: Italian Institute for International Political Studies

EU Pivot to Asia

Viewpoint by Israel Rafalovich

BRUSSELS (IDN) — The EU and Asia are undergoing rapid changes in an increasingly globalised World. The Asian trade community is gripped with fear and Asia's economic growth will get to a slowdown because of the impact of coronavirus. The slowdown would be worse than the global financial crisis of 2008-09 and the Asian financial crisis of 1997.

: Europe Editor; OPINION; 01 October 2021

Photo: Mrs Baptista S. Gebu, Executive Director of ProHumane Afrique International.

Africa Needs to Do a Lot More to Combat Gender Discrimination and Violence

Interview with ProHumane Afrique International's Executive Director

MOSCOW (IDN) — Globally, violence against women and girls persists. Besides, there are all kinds of gender discrimination. Some governments are steadily making efforts to eradicate violence and discrimination using legislation, and supporting public platforms devoted to discussing these. In this interview with Kester Kenn Klomegah* of IDN-InDepthNews, Mrs. Baptista S. Gebu, Executive Director of ProHumane Afrique International, discusses the situation of women and girls in the Republic of Ghana in West Africa.

: Kester Kenn Klomegah; OPINION; 30 September 2021

New Fortress Energy, Sri Lanka, and Planet Earth

By Dr Asoka Bandarage

The writer, a scholar and practitioner, has taught at Yale, Brandeis, Mount Holyoke (where she received tenure), Georgetown, American and other universities and colleges in the U.S. and abroad.

COLOMBO (IDN) — On September 17, New Fortress Energy (NFE), a U.S.-based energy infrastructure company, signed a momentous legal agreement with the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL). The signing apparently took place in the dead of the night, at 12.06 a.m., and the foreigner who came for the signing swiftly returned to the U.S. on a flight at 2 a.m.

: Asia Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Affordable Clean Energy; 30 September 2021

Image: PCU Virginia (SSN 774) | Wikipedia Commons

Australia's Nuclear-Powered Submarines Will Risk Opening a Pandora's Box of Proliferation

Viewpoint by Tariq Rauf

This article was issued by Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission.

VIENNA (IDN) — After first suffering a seeming “brain snap” to acquire a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs) some years back, at long last Australia has been promised a fleet of eight SSNs by the Biden administration under the newly minted and awkwardly named AUKUS (Australia, United Kingdom and United States) alliance against China.

: Opinion Editor; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 30 September 2021

Photo: A missile is seen in this undated picture released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency on September 29, 2021 © KCNA

Two Tracks Out of North Korean Nuclear Crisis

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — On September 15 news broke that North Korea had test-fired two ballistic missiles off its east coast. On the same day, South Korea announced it had successfully tested a submarine-launched ballistic missile. The dangerous arms race between the contestants in what is in effect a civil war was wound up a few more notches. It has been going on for decades. Peace-making initiatives have been and gone. The Biden Administration and its partner (erstwhile?) in this endeavour, the Chinese government, appears to be treading water.

: Jonathan Power; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 29 September 2021

Photo: NAM process in South Asia and in the Middle East. NAM summit in Iran. CC BY 4.0.

Foreign Policy: Sri Lanka and South Asia and the Conundrum to Resolve

By A. L. A. Azeez*

COLOMBO (IDN) — Whenever the foreign policy of the government of Sri Lanka is explained, the familiar refrains that are bandied around are ‘non-alignment’ and ‘neutrality’. No other South Asian country today has the burden of clarifying its foreign policy in terms of such ideals or any other as much as Sri Lanka seems to have demonstrated as of late.

: A. L. A. Azeez; OPINION; 29 September 2021

Philippines: Supporting The Weavers of Lousiana

Our Better World

LUISIANA, Philippines (IDN/OBW) — Each day, Maria’s Kitchen, a bakery in Laguna, sells tray after tray of ube cheese pandesal (cheese and yam infused bread rolls) and other breads and cakes.

But there is more to these baked goods than belly-rubbing yumminess; the simple and elegant pandan leaf boxes that bear them tell a story of their own.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 29 September 2021

Photo: Prime Minister of Fiji addressing the UN General Assembly virtually on September 25, 2021. Source: PM's official Website.

Security Challenges We Face Are Climate and Disease, World Leaders Need to Rise Up

By Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama

Fiji Islands Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama is the current Chair of the 18-member Pacific Islands Forum. Addressing the UN General Assembly virtually on September 25, he called on the global community to embrace Fiji's vision of a better, greener, bluer and safer future for humanity.

SUVA (IDN) — The United Nations report to the UN General Assembly this year is titled “Our multilateral challenges: UN 2:0” a Common Agenda the blueprint for a future that is better, greener, and safer—and I would humbly add, “bluer”.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; OPINION; 28 September 2021

Photo: OACPS Secretary General Georges Rebelo Pinto Chikoti. Credit: OACPS

A Climate Awakening Is Urgently Needed to Save The World’s Most Vulnerable

Viewpoint by Georges Rebelo Pinto Chikoti

The writer is Secretary-General of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS).

BRUSSELS (IDN) — Time is fast running out for millions of peoples living in situations of high risk where lives, livelihoods and a safe, secure place to live are all at stake.

Extreme climate and weather-related devastation is occurring at unprecedented scales, frequencies and intensities. We need only to look at the headlines of recent months to see the onslaught of drought, wildfires, hurricanes, torrential rains and floods right across the Blue Planet—North; South; East; West.