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Photo (l to r): President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump with Chinese President Xi Jinping on November 30, 2018 at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks | cropped version)

China’s Meteoric Rise Revives ‘Yellow Peril’ in the U.S.

Viewpoint by Kishore Mahbubani

The writer is a Professor at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the author of ‘Has the West Lost It?’ This analysis first appeared in EastAsiaForum on June 5, 2019 with the heading ‘A ‘yellow peril’ revival fuelling Western fears of China’s rise’.

SINGAPORE (IDN-INPS) – Do we arrive at geopolitical judgements from only cool, hard-headed, rational analysis? If emotions influence our judgements, are these conscious emotions or do they operate at the level of our subterranean subconscious? Any honest answer to these questions would admit that non-rational factors always play a role.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; OPINION; 10 June 2019

Photo: Russian President Vladimir Putin addressing the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-19). Credit: Russian President's Website.

SDGs Offer Russia New Opportunities in Africa

By Kester Kenn Klomegah

MOSCOW (IDN) – The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-19) that brought together thousands of foreign delegates, including those from Africa, prioritized "sustainable development" as the key theme. It offered an opportunity to discuss in-depth the significance, challenges and prospects of sustainable development, and cooperation among state institutions and businesses as well as between countries in achieving the global development goals endorsed by world leaders in September 2015 at the UN Headquarters in New York.

: Kester Kenn Klomegah; THE WORLD; Russia; 10 June 2019

Photo: Energy access in Timor-Leste. Credit: UN-Photo-Martine-Perret

Urgent Action Needed to Scale-up Energy Access in LDCs

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK | BEIJING (IDN) – The world’s 47 least developed countries (LDCs) will fail to achieve global sustainable energy targets by 2030 unless urgent and enhanced action is undertaken. This was the backdrop to discussions which took place on May 30-31, 2019 at a United Nations conference on 'Scaling-Up Energy Access and Finance in the Least Developed Countries' in Beijing, China.

: Santo D. Banerjee; SUSTAINABILITY; Affordable Clean Energy; 09 June 2019

Photo: High level participants and representatives from the least developed countries following the opening session of the Global Conference on Scaling-Up Energy Access and Finance in the Least Developed Countries on May 30. Credit: UN-OHRLLS.

Boosting Energy Access and Finance in Poorest Countries

Viewpoint by Youba Sokona

The following are extensive extracts from keynote remarks by Youba Sokona, South Centre's Senior Adviser on Sustainable Development, at the Global Conference on Scaling-up Energy Access and Finance in Least Developed Countries in Beijing, China. The United Nations Office of the High Representative for Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS) and the Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization (GEIDCO) organised the conference with the support of the UN system on May 30-31, 2019.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 09 June 2019

Image credit: knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu

UN Study Urges a More Gender-Equal Digital Space

Flays Feminization of Voice Assistants

By Rita Joshi

BERLIN | PARIS (IDN) – "I think if we wake up 20 years from now and we see the lack of diversity in our tech and leaders and practitioners [that we see today], that would be my doomsday scenario," said Li Fei-Fei, co-director of Stanford University’s Human-Centered AI Institute and one of the few female leaders in the field of Artificial Intelligence, during testimony to the U.S. Congress.

: Rita Joshi; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 08 June 2019

79-Nation ACP Moving into a New Era of Global Partnerships

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (IDN) – To bring "Asia and the Americas into closer bonds of friendship" with the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and "strengthen South-South solidarity", Secretary-General Dr. P. I. Gomes is keen to "build bridges with India on technical cooperation" and initiate a "new partnership" with Peru. He was speaking at the 'ACP Day' celebrations.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 08 June 2019

Photo: An electric vehicle and an antique car on display at a 1912 auto show in Toronto, Canada. Credit: William James. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

The Electric Vehicle Revolution Is Underway in Africa

By Giles Kirkland

An automotive expert and blogger, Giles Kirkland says he has a passion for new technologies.

LONDON (IDN) – In 2016, a businessman called Francis Romano imported an electric car Nissan Leaf to Nairobi, Kenya. However, the car was held up at the Customs for an intriguing reason: they had never seen an electric vehicle before! Fast-forward to today and Romano claims that the use of electric vehicles (EVs) has saved him a staggering 70 percent of fuel costs in his business.

: Europe Editor; THE WORLD; Africa; 07 June 2019

Photo: The writer. Credit: Orange Business Services

Why African Retailers Should Shift to Data-Driven Business

Viewpoint Toros Esim

The writer is Head of Digital Retail and Regional Director of Digital Strategy for the Middle East & Africa at Orange Business Services. Views expressed are the writer’s.

JOHANNESBURG (IDN) – In a continent the size of Africa, comprising more than 50 countries, it can be very tempting to make sweeping generalisations about the adoption of digital technologies, and the transformation of the retail sector across the continent. The potential scale of the opportunity cannot be ignored – the large and young population, emergence of a middle class, strong retail revenues and second fastest growing consumer region in world.

: Africa & ME Editor; OPINION; 07 June 2019

2019] Photo: Mariam Kassim Salum charging her phone on a solar equipment at Kizimkazi village in Zanzibar, Tanzania. Courtesy: Barefoot College

Female Solar Engineers Light Up Remote Villages in Zanzibar

By Kizito Makoye

KENDWA, Tanzania (IDN) – As darkness falls, Natasha Mahmood and her brother huddle around the weak flame of a paraffin lamp, rushing to finish their homework before their mother blows it out to save fuel.

“I often try to get it done early. But that’s not always the case. My teacher sometimes punishes me for failing to complete my work," says Mahmood, as a trail of smoke from the lamp rises into a corrugated roof smirched with soot.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Africa; 06 June 2019

Photo: Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of Sudan’s Transitional Military Council (TMC), has close ties to the UAE and Saudi Arabia. CC BY-SA 4.0

Era of Dissent & Defiance Inspired by 2011 Popular Arab Revolts

Viewpoint by James M. Dorsey

James M. Dorsey – a senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, an adjunct senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute and co-director of the University of Wuerzburg’s Institute of Fan Culture – offered this viewpoint to IDN.

SINGAPORE (IDN) – Demonstrators in Sudan, Algeria and nations beyond the Middle East such as Pakistan and Russia are applying lessons learnt from the 2011 popular Arab revolts as the Sudanese military uses an apparent Saudi-United Arab Emirates template to crush protestors.