Costly Web of Bribes Seen in Trading of Namibian Fish Licenses to Iceland
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – The stench of fish rot is wafting over Namibia. It’s taken down two Namibian ministers and leaves an Icelandic fisheries minister in the hot seat. “A coterie of well-heeled vampires is sucking our fishing sector dry!” protested the local Namibian newspaper as news of the […]
Did Sri Lanka’s Presidential Election Bring Back a Polarising Wartime Figure?
Viewpoint by Dr Palitha Kohona The writer is former Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations, and former Foreign Secretary. The Economist proclaimed recently that Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the man who, as secretary of defense, presided over this horrifying episode (the final phase of Sri Lanka’s terrorist inspired internal conflict), has just […]
The Story of a Kyrgyz Mother Bride Kidnapped as A Teenager
By Aqila Hassanzada* NARYN, Kyrgyzstan (IDN) – Mairam Bibi says her sons will not follow in their father’s footsteps – an abductor who kidnapped a teenage girl and forced her into a violent marriage. At the age of 41, Mairam is sitting in her small straw house telling the story so many women in Kyrgyzstan […]
Urgent Need for Accelerating SDG Progress in Asia-Pacific
Viewpoint by Kaveh Zahedi* and Van Nguyen** BANGKOK (IDN) – “The 2030 Agenda is coming to life”, declared the Secretary-General at the opening of the first SDG Summit [September 24-25], a quadrennial event for the follow up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. As leaders from Asia-Pacific took the floor, they highlighted […]
ACP 9th Summit Stresses Commitment to Multilateralism
By Robert Kibet NAIROBI (IDN) – “Ensuring that democracy, peace and prosperity prevails everywhere in the world, amidst global turbulence, increasing state of fragility in our countries, large or small, is at the heart of a transformed ACP group of states,” Dr. Patrick I. Gomes, outgoing Secretary General of ACP told the official inauguration of […]
European Support for the US Has Backed Iran into a Corner
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden (IDN) – The Europeans have not done well in countering President Donald Trump’s onslaught on Iran. When Trump unilaterally decided that the U.S. should withdraw from the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal, which committed Iran to winding down its nuclear research in return for the West, Russia and China (the […]
Climate Activists at COP25 Denounce Inaction by World Leaders
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | MADRID (IDN) – As the 25th United Nations climate conference COP25 moved into its second week, environmental activists from around the world denounced the influence of corporate power plainly visible at the Madrid summit and took to the streets in a massive climate protest led by […]
Home of Struggle Icon Winnie Mandela Is Now a Museum
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | BLOEMFONTEIN (IDN) – The modest home of the late Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in Brandfort, Free State, where she was forced to live when banished in 1977, has become a museum. The Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Brandfort House Museum in Majwemasweu, Brandfort, is now complete, according to the national Department […]
A Kyrgyz Activist Translates UNICEF Mandate into Action
By Sehar Naz Janani NARYN, Kyrgyzstan (IDN) – His pale skin, teary eyes, shivering body and trembling voice added to the air of grave solemnity pervading the room. Breaking the dead silence, his mouth slowly started murmuring, “I am an orphan… But, I have a sister… She beats me every now and then” and added, […]