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Photo: Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang Holds Talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan. Credit: www.china-un.org

Japan-China Relations Apparently Back On Track

Viewpoint by Katsuji Nakazawa*

TOKYO (IDN-INPS) – In early May 2018 during his first visit to Japan since being appointed in 2013, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang publicly remarked that Japan-China relations had returned to a path of normality. This "throw-away line" revealed that China's official perspective prior to then was that Japan-China relations had been off course and abnormal.

While this shift is a welcome change, unless the developments leading up to this point are properly understood Japan may find itself unable to respond appropriately if history repeats itself and bilateral relations takes another turn for the worse.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 26 July 2018

Photo: VW Polo assembled in Rwanda in the showroom. Credit: ktpress.rw

Rwanda President Launches VW's Car Assembly Plant in Kigali

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | KIGALI (IDN) – You'll see plenty of Volvos, Mercedes, Hondas, Toyotas and even a Ford Windstar tootling around the booming cities of Lagos, Nairobi and Johannesburg.

But these foreign cars were no spring chickens when they arrived in Africa after years of use. Often they had to be totally rebuilt in order to sell at top dollar. Only six cars claim to be made in Africa but Asian origins belie that claim.

Now, at a launching ceremony attended by Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, the first domestically built car has rolled off the assembly line at Volkswagen's new factory in Kigali. With 5,000 cars envisioned for the first phase, VW aims both to sell cars and use them in the Uber-like car-sharing system.

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

Photo: AIDS-2018-march. Credit: smugmug.com

AIDS 2018 Conference Trying To Break Barriers, Build Bridges

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | AMSTERDAM (IDN) – The International Conference on AIDS (AIDS 2018) – the largest gathering on any global health issue in the world – opened in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on July 23 under the title Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges.

With hundreds of scheduled talks and roundtables, the five-day 22nd International AIDS Conference has defined its goal as promoting human rights-based and evidence-informed HIV responses tailored to the needs of people living with HIV, displaced populations, gays, people who use drugs, sex workers, transgender people, women and girls and young people – and collaborating in fighting the disease beyond country borders.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 25 July 2018

Photo: The 2018 High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development concluded on 16 July, following a full day of Voluntary National Reviews, and the continuation of the High-Level General Debate in the afternoon. A Ministerial Declaration was adopted during the closing session on the theme 'Transformation towards sustainable and resilient societies.' Photo by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth

UN Conference Warns Of Huge Backlogs Before Achieving Global Development Goals

By Ramesh Jaura

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – Three years since the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by the UN, at first glimpse progress seems to have been made in "transforming our world" by implementing "a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity."

But senior UN officials admit that a closer look at what little has been achieved and the gargantuan tasks ahead to fulfil the "pledge that no one will be left behind" leave no room for complacency.

The Group of 77 (G-77), the largest intergovernmental organization of developing countries in the UN – meanwhile encompassing 134 countries –also shares such reservations.

: Ramesh Jaura; UN INSIDER; 24 July 2018

Photo: Putin gifts Trump a Telstar Mechta, the official match ball for the knockout stage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. CC BY 4.0

The Media Is Misleading On Trump's Remarks in Helsinki

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – I don't think I've ever witnessed in all my years of journalism such a hysterical outpouring against a presidential statement as I've seen in the aftermath of Helsinki summit. President Donald Trump has even been accused of treason by prominent columnists and politicians. There’s barely a voice of dissent in the media. (Maybe it's written but not published.) No wonder that even some of my normally open-minded friends feel that things are as bad as they are made out to be. Sorry to say it, as I've told them, they are being brainwashed.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 24 July 2018

Photo: Dalian Hi-Tech Industrial Zone, Dalian, China. CC BY-SA 4.0

Trump's Trade War With China Prompted By Flimsy Reasons

Viewpoint by Yu Yongding*

BEIJING (IDN-INPS) – No one wins in a trade war. Yet U.S. President Donald Trump seems determined to pursue one with China, which he accuses of causing the United States' trade deficit, violating World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and using unfair practices to acquire foreign technology.

While most economists marvel at Trump's ignorance of how trade balances work, many broadly agree with his charges regarding intellectual property (IP). But the evidence supporting these claims is also weak, at best.

: Asia Editor; OPINION; 23 July 2018

Photo: The Aboghlou women’s cooperative meets outside in Ourika Valley, Morocco.

Education Isn't the Only Key to Female Employment in Morocco

Viewpoint by Katherine O’Neill*

MARRAKECH (IDN) – The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has the lowest female employment rate of anywhere in the world. Though most countries in the MENA region, including Libya and Iran, have seen gradually increasing rates of working women, Morocco’s female labour force participation (FLFP) rate has actually decreased since 1999, now sitting at 26 percent, according to Brookings.

This decline not only contradicts global and regional trends, but also comes despite significant efforts both by the Moroccan government and NGOs to increase women’s education, in hopes of improving their employment opportunities. The World Bank estimates that higher FLFP rates could result in a 25 percent average increase in household income, something which would dramatically improve the lives of men, women, and youth in the region.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Middle East; 23 July 2018

Photo: From Left to Right (front row): Jayathma Wickramanayake, UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth; Karunarathna Paranawithana, Deputy Minister of Science, Technology, Research, Skills Development 7 & Vocational Training and Kandyan Heritage; Dr. Rohan Perera, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN in New York; Francisco António Duarte Lopes, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Portugal to the UN in New York; Guy Ryder, Director-General ILO; Marie Paule Roudil, Director UNESCO. Credit: Sri Lanka Permanent Mission to the UN in New York.

291 Million Youth Live With No Electricity, No Computers, No Printers – UN Laments

By Shanta Roy

NEW YORK (IDN) – When the United Nations commemorated World Youth Skills Day on July 16, there was one strong underlying theme that overshadowed the event.

Despite marked progress in the role of youth in a society increasingly characterized by high technology and artificial intelligence, the new generation, particularly in the developing world, was still lagging far behind in the fast-moving digital world.

Addressing a High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development on July 16, the UN’s Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed pointed out a realistically depressing fact: globally, over 291 million children attend primary schools without any electricity.

: Thalif Deen; UN INSIDER; 22 July 2018

Photo: More than 35,000 rural households in Kenya will soon be eating better and earning more money thanks to a new financial agreement signed by the IFAD and Kenya in support of the country’s aquaculture sector. Credit: IFAD

Stories Behind IFAD's Focus on Africa

By Kwame Buist

ROME (IDN) – In its recently released Annual Report 2017, the Rome-based International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) – a specialised agency of the United Nations dedicated to eradicating poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries – promises to leverage core resources of 1.2 billion dollars to fund a programme of loans and grants totalling 3.5 billion dollars over the 2019-2021 period.

Ninety percent of these core resources will be allocated to low-income and lower-middle-income countries, with about 45 percent being channelled to sub-Saharan Africa, and 50 percent to Africa as a whole.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; Africa; 21 July 2018

Photo: Vladimir Putin (right) and Donald Trump (left) at a news conference after their summit meeting in Helsinki on July 16, 2018. Credit: en.kremlin.ru

A U.S.-Russia Summit That Left Trump In The Hot Seat

Viewpoint by Somar Wijayadasa*

NEW YORK (IDN | INPS) – In a historic bilateral summit, the United States President Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on July 16, 2018. The summit took place notwithstanding myriad objections, conjectures and apprehensions from many U.S. political leaders who oppose rapprochement with Russia over a plethora of issues: Crimea, East Ukraine, Syria, and Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Just two days before the summit, the U.S. Justice Department indicted 12 Russians for interfering in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, giving impetus to a steady drumbeat of demands that Trump cancel the meeting. The New York Times reported, "according to an internal government document, the U.S. has imposed sanctions on 213 Russian-related targets".