THE WORLD

Photo: Shehu Shagari (left) and Olusegun Obsanjo (right). Credit: Nigerian Tribune

Nigeria's Ex-President Shehu Shagari Mourned

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | ABUJA (IDN) - Former President Alhaji Shehu Usman Shagari, a devout Muslim, a former school teacher, son of a farmer, trader and herder, was remembered in December as a nice man, a gentle man but not a particularly strong man.

Nice, gentle and amiable – good qualities – but just short of what the opposition desired for the leader of Africa’s burgeoning colossus.

As a result, Shagari’s service to the nation from 1979 to 1983 was cut short by a coup led by military men including the current president of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 01 January 2019

Photo: The Arch 22 monument commemorating the 1994 coup which saw the then 29-year-old Yahya Jammeh seize power in a bloodless coup, ousting Dawda Jawara, who had been President of the Gambia since 1970. CC BY-SA 3.0

Press Freedoms Return To Gambia Under New Government

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | BANJUL (IDN) – Following the end of the regime of former President Yahya Jammeh, journalists in The Gambia are beginning to enjoy press freedoms for the first time in 22 years.

During the two decades of ex-President Jammeh's rule, journalists were regularly abducted, tortured and killed. The new government has pledged to respect the media.

Outdated sedition laws are still on the books, however, and the public is urged to bring any complaints about journalists to the new Media Council of The Gambia instead of to the courts.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 01 January 2019

Image: Palestine flag. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Palestine Looks Forward To An Exceptional Year As G77 Chair

By Ramesh Jaura

NEW YORK (IDN) – 2019 is slated to be an exceptional year for the State of Palestine, not least because it will preside over the Group of 77 (G77) – the largest bloc at the United Nations – comprising 134 developing countries representing some 80 percent of the world population.

Though 71 years since the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 181 in 1947 an independent and sovereign State of Palestine state has yet to be realised. But according to Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations, as chair of the Group of 77 and China, "we will be negotiating on behalf of 135 countries," including his own delegation in the count.

: Ramesh Jaura; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; The Group of 77; 31 December 2018

Photo: A glimpse of the 7th European Union Nonproliferation and Disarmament Conference in Brussels. Credit: European Union.

Nonproliferation Policy and Priorities – U.S. Perspective

Viewpoint by Dr. Christopher Ashley Ford

The author is Assistant Secretary, Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation. The following are extensive extracts from his remarks at the 7th European Union Nonproliferation and Disarmament Conference in Brussels, Belgium, on December 18, 2018.

BRUSSELS | WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN-INPS) – A year ago at this European Union conference, I had the honor of speaking on behalf of the new U.S. Administration to outline our emerging approaches to nonproliferation, arms control, and disarmament policy — summarizing critical continuities and highlighting constructive innovations that we were then getting underway in our first year. This year, having moved from the National Security Council staff to the State Department, I’m pleased to be able to outline our policy and priorities in the nonproliferation business.

: J C Suresh; OPINION; 30 December 2018

Photo: Colombo City, Sri Lana. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Wickremasinghe's Reappointment As Sri Lanka PM Opens Door To The 'Indo-Pacific'

By Kalinga Seneviratne

COLOMBO (IDN) – For the past two months Sri Lanka’s deeply divided political community has been fighting to protect democracy in one of the oldest democracies in Asia. One side wants a general election to elect a new parliament claiming the current one is corrupt and wants to divide the country. The other is fighting to evade going for a general election before it is due in mid-2020.

Interestingly the U.S. and its European allies have been openly supporting the latter – the camp that does not want an election. They claim this is to “restore” democracy in the country!

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 27 December 2018

Photo (left to right): Ms. D. Walsweer-Sore, ACP Secretariat; Stefano Manservisi, European Commission's Director-General; Professor Robert Dussey, ACP Chief Negotiator; Rimnick Pato, Foreign Minister of Papua New Guinea.

A Critical Year Ahead For EU's Ties With 79 ACP Countries

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – 2019 will be a crucial year for relations between the European Union (EU) and 79 countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) – uniting more than half of all UN member countries and representing over 1.5 billion people.

The current partnership, governed by the Cotonou agreement, is one of the longest-standing and most comprehensive framework for cooperation between the EU and developing countries. The current agreement expires in 2020. Therefore, the new agreement needs to be both finalised and approved by then.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 26 December 2018

Photo: President Joseph Kabila Kabange of the Democratic Republic of the Congo addresses the seventy-third session of the United Nations General Assembly on 25 September 2018. UN Photo/Cia Pak

UN Intervention In The Congo Appears To Be Successful

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – The general election in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) has been postponed yet again – to December 30. Will this country, the largest and potentially the richest in Africa, ever escape from its continuous dictatorship, and its propensity to civil war? It’s not so long ago that Susan Rice, then the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, was talking about the Congo as the site of “Africa’s First World War”.

Has the UN at long last really pacified this country that has been continuously in a state of unrest since the Belgian colonisers, after effectively looting the country, fled in 1960, turning the country over to a hastily improvised African government?

: Jonathan Power; THE WORLD; Africa; 25 December 2018

Swahili Speakers Stunned As Disney Claims Trademark For ‘Hakuna Matata’

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – The once common phrase “Hakuna Matata” (No Problem!) is now off limits for African speakers of Swahili. Any commercial use of the two word expression is reserved for its new owner – the American company that produced Lion King. That’s right: Walt Disney!

The California-based company is preparing to release its remake of The Lion King next year and just to keep an enterprising African from capitalizing on the film’s success, the company registered the phrase in the U.S.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 25 December 2018

Photo: Gemfields announced record results of the most recent auction of Mozambican rough rubies held in Singapore from June 5-9, 2018.

Emeralds, Rubies Score Big Profits For Foreign Firms As African Countries Go Broke

The information presented here has been superseded and the corrected article can be found here https://www.indepthnews.net/index.php/the-world/africa/2476-emeralds-rubies-could-make-zambia-rich

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Foreign mining companies extract more than a quarter of the world’s production of rare emeralds in Zambia yet declare losses to make themselves tax exempt.

So far, charges of tax evasion filed against Kagem mine, a subsidiary of the London-listed gemstone miner Gemfields, have been unsuccessful – dismissed by the Zambian Revenue Authority.

Gemfields owns 75 percent of the world’s largest emerald mine in Kagem, northern Zambia. Auctions of 30 Zambian emeralds and 11 Mozambican rubies have brought the company over $1 billion of combined auction revenue, according to the Creamer Media Mining Weekly.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 25 December 2018

Photo: Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir has been in power since a 1989 coup.

Sudan Leader Faces Calls For Removal As Price Of Bread Spikes

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | KHARTOUM (IDN) – In the face of a growing movement of Sudanese opposition, protesting rising costs of bread and other essentials, security forces of the government of President Omar al-Bashir moved forcefully on December 25 to end the demonstrations using tear gas, night sticks and live ammunition, according to witnesses.

States of emergency and curfews have been declared in several of the northeast African country's protesting cities. The protesters – organized by a group of professional unions including doctors, lawyers, teachers and students and supported by two of the largest opposition parties – are calling for President Omar al-Bashir to step down.