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Photo: ‘Profiting from pain’: Covid-19 pandemic creates new billionaire every 30 hours, says Oxfam WEF 2022 report. Image source: DNA India

Davos Forum: ‘Profiting from Pain’ amid ‘Inequality Pandemic’

Viewpoint by Sonali Kolhatkar

This article was produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute. Sonali Kolhatkar is the founder, host and executive producer of “Rising Up With Sonali,” a television and radio show that airs on Free Speech TV and Pacifica stations.

LOS ANGELES (IDN) — The World Economic Forum (WEF), which took place this year from May 22 through 26 in Davos, Switzerland, brought together elected officials and corporate executives from all over the world to tackle global problems. The annual meeting was delayed, first by two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and then by five more months due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 26 May 2022

Photo: Representatives at the opening of the 2022 First BRICS Sherpas' Meeting held via video conference in Beijing, China, January 18-19, 2022. Credit: CGTN

Talk of Expanding BRICS Ahead of the June Summit

By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh

MOSCOW | SHANGHAI (IDN) — Under the rotating chairmanship of China, BRICS—an informal intergovernmental union comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa—has held a series of high-level virtual meetings on existing significant regional and international issues, one of which focuses on the organization's expansion proposed by China.

: Kester Kenn Klomegah; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 26 May 2022

Photo credit: U.S. Consulate-General Lagos. Source: Yinksmedia

US Consulate in Lagos to Receive Help from Convicted Billionaire

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — While most Americans seem troubled by the rising cost of everything, the American government is on a lavish spending spree in Nigeria.

More than half a billion dollars has been budgeted for a new U.S. consulate general in Eko Atlantic, a spit of land reclaimed from the Atlantic Ocean in Lagos that features high-end residential and commercial properties.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 25 May 2022

Photo: Gambians protesting. Source: Global Information Network.

Calls For Prosecution of Gambian Strongman in Exile

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | BANJUL (IDN) — Civil society organizations in The Gambia are turning up the heat on current Gambian president Adama Barrow to prosecute heinous crimes linked to ousted dictator Yahya Jammeh, outlined in a report.

The report on human rights crimes was compiled by the Gambia Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission and was delivered to President Barrow last November. It calls for the prosecution of those who committed a host of serious crimes during the previous administration and is widely believed to specifically name Jammeh and 69 others.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 25 May 2022

Image Credit: Diana Ejaita | Zam Magazine

Leading Economies Unequipped to Go After Russian Kleptocrats

By Rita Joshi

BERLIN (IDN) — Despite strong early pledges to sanction and track the illicit wealth of Russian elites following the invasion of Ukraine, the G7 and other leading economies’ rhetoric does not match reality, according to an analysis of Transparency International analysis released on May 24.

: Rita Joshi; THE WORLD; Russia; 24 May 2022

Photo: Women fruit and vegetable vendors chat at a market in La Paz, Bolivia. Source: UN News/Unsplash/Lesly Derksen

There Should Be No Crisis in World Food Supplies

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — The world is lather about the jump in world food prices in world food prices. Just this last weekend the Minister of Agriculture of Egypt was saying that, without assured grain supplies from Russia and Ukraine, he expected a rise of widespread malnutrition.

: Jonathan Power; SUSTAINABILITY; Food security, nutrition & sustainable agriculture; 24 May 2022

New Report Focuses on Security Risks of Environment Crisis

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — The world’s growing environmental crisis—including climate change, which has resulted in widespread droughts, floods and heatwaves threatening major food crops—is escalating security risks worldwide.

A new policy report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), titled Environment of Peace: Security in a New Era of Risk,‘ points out that between 2010 and 2020 the number of state-based armed conflicts roughly doubled (to 56), as did the number of conflict deaths. At the same time, the number of refugees and other forcibly displaced people also doubled, to 82.4 million.

: Thalif Deen; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 24 May 2022

Photo: African refugees from the Ukraine in France. Credit: Anadolu Agency

Africans Fleeing War in Ukraine Face New Obstacles in France

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — European countries have generously offered shelter to some of the 5.5 million people who fled the war in Ukraine launched on Feb. 24 with an unprovoked attack by Russia.

More than 50,000 have been welcomed by France and granted a temporary status that enables them to work and receive social and medical assistance.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 23 May 2022

Photo: Renowned Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o reads excerpts from his recent work in both Gikuyu and English during a presentation in the Coolidge Auditorium, May 9, 2019. Photo by Shawn Miller/Library of Congress.

Google Translate App to Add 10 African Languages

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — While a professor at the University of Nairobi, Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o was the catalyst of the discussion to abolish the English department. He argued that after the end of colonialism, it was imperative that a university in Africa teach African literature, including oral literature, and that such should be done in the richness of African languages.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 23 May 2022

US Presses India to Reassess Its Foreign Policy Options

Viewpoint by John P. Ruehl

This article was produced by Globetrotter. The writer is an Australian-American journalist living in Washington, D.C. He is a contributing editor to Strategic Policy and a contributor to several other foreign affairs publications. He is currently finishing a book on Russia to be published in 2022.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) — The United States’ approach to India since the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis has reignited India’s historical grievances toward Washington. But outreach by other major powers—such as Russia and China—to New Delhi illustrates India’s growing clout in international affairs.