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Photo: The rebuilt Ramu Simar Vihar. Credit: Kalinga Seneviratne | IDN-INPS.

Bangladesh Buddhists Live in the Shadows of Rohingya Fear

By Kalinga Seneviratne

This article is the 35th in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate. Click here for previous articles.

COX BAZAAR, Bangladesh (IDN) – Most of Bangladesh’s 1 million Buddhists live in Chittagong (now officially known as Chattogram), Chittagong Hill Tracks and here in Cox Bazaar areas. The latter is home to the teeming Rohingya refugee camps sheltering those who fled Myanmar’s Rakhine state since the 2016 skirmishes with the Burmese military. Over an estimated 900,000 Rohingyas are sheltered here in what is believed to be the world’s largest refugee camp today.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 11 October 2019

Photo: The Hadza people in Manyara. Credit. Edwin Mkendo.

Tanzania’s Hadzabe Win Climate Change Award

By Kizito Makoye

MANYARA, Tanzania (IDN) – At the heart of the Yaeda valley, which sprawls across a wide expanse of plains in Tanzania’s northern Manyara region, live the Hadzabe – a 40,000-year-old tribe who live in the bush. Their livelihoods still depend on hunting and gathering wild fruits, and for many years now, they have shown a great ability in surviving on a few dwindling resources.

Armed with vast knowledge of the country’s flora and fauna, coupled with their inseparable bond with nature, the Hadzabe have until recently lived in a perfect balance between man and the environment.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Africa; 11 October 2019

Photo: Ambassador Chowdhury speaking on 2 October 2019 at the Soka University of America (SUA). Credit: Courtesy of SUA photographers.

The Culture of Peace Begins with Each One of Us

Viewpoint by Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury *

The writer is the founder of The Global Movement for The Culture of Peace (GMCoP), former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the United Nations.

ALISO VIEJO, California, USA (IDN-INPS) – My life’s experience has taught me to value peace and equality as the essential components of our existence. They unleash the positive forces of good that are so needed for human progress. Peace is integral to human existence — in everything we do, in everything we say, and in every thought, we have, there is a place for peace. We should not isolate peace as something separate. It is important to realize that the absence of peace takes away the opportunities that we need to better ourselves, to prepare ourselves, to empower ourselves to face the challenges of our lives, individually and collectively.

: Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury; OPINION; 10 October 2019

African Languages Among the Top Ten Spoken in U.S. Homes

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – If you think you’re hearing more Swahili, Yoruba, Amharic or Twi coming from your neighbour’s home, you’re right!

Newly released data from the U.S. Census Bureau finds African languages are among the top ten fastest growing languages spoken at home in the U.S.

The Census list features three groups of African languages: Swahili and other Central/Eastern/Southern African languages; Yoruba, Twi, Igbo, and other Western African languages; and Amharic/Somali.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 10 October 2019

Image credit: Screenshot of Ethiopia Thanksgiving from CGTN Africa.

Ethiopian ‘Thanksgiving’ Returns as A Joyous Affair

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW York (IDN) – For the first time in 150 years, Ethiopia’s Oromo people celebrated “Thanksgiving” in “Finfinee” – generally known as Addis Ababa.

The country’s largest ethnic group turned up in the hundreds of thousands to mark “Ireecha” – a public outdoors event. People gathered around water bodies, holding tufts of grass to thank Waqqaa (God) and ask for Nagaa (Peace), Finnaa (the development of mind and body), Walooma (togetherness or harmony), and Araaraa (Reconciliation).

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 10 October 2019

Photo: Russian Tupolev Tu-154M spy plane. CC BY 4.0

Experts Alarmed at Reports U.S. May Exit Open Skies Treaty

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN)— Yet another key arms control treaty – the 1992 Open Skies Treaty – is apparently on the verge of being abandoned by the U.S. and leading arms control and national security experts are warning that If President Donald Trump decides to unilaterally pull the U.S. out of the treaty, it would undermine the security and stability of the United States and European allies, including Ukraine.

: Santo D. Banerjee; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 10 October 2019

Photo: Kazakh President Tokayev addresses Parliament and Government on 2 September 2019. Source: Kazakh Permanent Mission to the UN in New York.

New Kazakh President Envisions Gradual ‘Transformation’

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | NUR-SULTAN (IDN) – The Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has accentuated the need of “constructive public dialogue” which he defines as “the basis of stability and prosperity” of the country and elaborated wide-ranging plans engulfing all sectors: political, social and economic. In his first major speech nearly three months after bagging about 71 percent of the vote in June elections – contested by seven candidates – he declared: “We are approaching the important part in the newest history of our country”.

: Ramesh Jaura; CENTRAL ASIA; 09 October 2019

Photo: Seme Border between Nigeria and Benin. Source: Vanguard.

Nigeria and Neighbouring Benin Caught in Trade War

By Hans-Joachim Preuss *

COTONOU (IDN-INPS) – Trade wars are currently in vogue. The most prominent – and most dangerous for the world economy – is undoubtedly between the U.S. and China. But there are more and more protectionist countries, while neighbours are increasingly at odds with each other. This is no different on the African continent. In August, for example, Nigeria closed its external borders for many goods from neighbouring Benin – overnight and without notice.

: Africa & ME Editor; Afrca; 09 October 2019

Collage: Photos of Nixon and Trump from Internet. IDN-INPS.

Nixon and Trump: The Politics of Impeachment

By George Friedman* | Geopolitical Futures

NEW YORK (IDN) – The evolution of the American political system inevitably has an impact on the global system. If the United States shifts direction in even minor matters, there are regional consequences. Political events are difficult to predict, but the key variables of the process can be identified by comparing the current evolution to a roughly similar prior event. My intent is to benchmark the current impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump to the one that forced Richard Nixon to resign. It is an attempt to define what matters and what doesn’t within the impeachment process, rather than the potential global outcome triggered by hypothetical events.

: Opinion Editor; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 08 October 2019

Photo: Kenyan Senator Isaac Mwaura. Source: Standard Digital

What a Kenyan Senator Attending UN Meeting Experienced in US

By Isaac Mwaura

The writer is a Nominated Senator and chairman of the Albinism Society of Kenya. @mwauraIsaac1 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This article was first published in Standard Digitial.

NEW YORK (IDN) – It is Wednesday September 25, 2019, and I am rushing to take my seat at a Kenyan side event on peace, organised by our permanent mission in New York and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It was during the United Nations General Assembly meeting. I get into the building and check in at security.