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Photo: Flood waters rush around a house in Long Island, New York. Credit: U.S. Geological Survey

When Climate Change Dishes Up a 'Toxic Stew'

By William S. Becker*

MILWAUKEE, USA (IDN) – It happened in July 2016. A flash flood roared through Ellicott City, Maryland, killed two people and caused tens of millions of dollars in damages to the historic buildings along Main Street. The experts said it was one of those rare 1,000-year flood events. The city set about the job of rebuilding. It takes a long time – often years – for a community to recover from a devastating flood.

Then in May 2018, while Ellicott City was still getting over the 2016 disaster, it happened again, another one of those “extremely rare” 1,000-year floods.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 22 September 2018

Photo: Rice is the staple food in many Asian countries. Weed killers containing Glyphosate are used in rice cultivation too. UN IARC claims Glyphosate as a substance capable of causing disease in living tissue. Credit: www.agrifarming.in

Rounding Up Coca-Colonization – Will the UN Human Rights Council Stand Up For The People?

By Jayasri Priyalal

The writer is the Regional Director responsible for Finance Sector of UNI Global Union, Asia & Pacific Organization - Singapore.

SINGAPORE (IDN) – Regulatory capture and the influence of powerful Transnational Corporations in lobbying the policy makers towards their own advantage is no secret. Putting profits before people and planet is their ordinary course of business.

Now that the first draft of a legally binding treaty in International Human Rights Law has been submitted to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) will they have the courage to stand up for the people against powerful transnational corporations [TNC]?

: Kalinga Seneviratne; SUSTAINABILITY; Food security, nutrition & sustainable agriculture; 21 September 2018

Photo: Vienna Chapter of the Group of 77 celebrates 20th anniversary. Credit: UNIDO.

The Group of 77 at UN HQ in Vienna Celebrates 20th Anniversary

By Reinhard Jacobsen

VIENNA (IDN) – China's Foreign Minister WANG Yi has praised the Group of 77 (G-77) countries in Vienna, one of the four headquarters of the United Nations, along with New York, Geneva and Nairobi, for its important role as a platform for developing countries to engage in multilateral affairs.

The Group of 77 is the largest intergovernmental organization of developing countries within United Nations, designed to promote its members' collective economic interests and create an enhanced joint negotiating capacity. The organization, established in 1964 by 77 developing countries, has expanded to 134 member states.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; The Group of 77; 21 September 2018

Photo: Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta (left) with the Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) at the Great Hall of the $3.8 billion cost of the Naivasha-Kisumu phase of the Standard Gauge Railway to be provided as part of grant financing. Credit: Xinhua/Yin Bogu.

African Countries Seek Relief from Burgeoning Chinese Loans

By Allan Olingo

In the past 15 years, Beijing has written off more than $2 billion worth of debt advanced to African countries, says Allan Olingo, an accomplished business journalist from Kenya. This article first appeared in The East African on September 17, 2018.

NAIROBI (IDN-INPS) – Some African countries are now seeking to write off their loans from China while others are offering concessions using their natural resources and assets to manage their ballooning debt.

A new report by the U.S.-based Centre for Global Development shows that China’s loans to Africa, currently standing in excess of $14 billion, continue to rise, putting a strain on borrowers and posing the risk of default.

: IDN-INPS Middle East & Africa Editor; THE WORLD; Africa; 20 September 2018

Photo: Equatorial Guinea President's son and Vice-President Teodoro Nguema Obiang cropped while addressing the general debate of the UN General Assembly’s seventieth session on 30 September 2015. Credit: UN Photo/Amanda Voisard

When a Vice President is Nabbed With Million Dollar Watches

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) - What does a suitcase full of million dollar watches look like?

Well, it’s blinding for one and it caught the eye of police at the Sao Paulo Viracopos airport in Brazil who confiscated the gem-encrusted time pieces found in the luggage of the son of the long-time ruler of Equatorial Guinea.

In a second bag belonging to Teodorin Nguema Obiang Mangue, vice president and son of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, $1.5 million in cash was found, allegedly for medical treatment far from home.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 20 September 2018

Japan and China Boost Connectivity in Southeast Asia

Prime Minister Abe is reported to be keen to reach an agreement on specific cooperation project during his planned official visit to China this October.

Viewpoint by Zhao Hong

The author is Professor at the Research School for Southeast Asian Studies, Xiamen University, China. This article was first carried in EastAsiaForum on 15 September 2018. It is being reproduced in view of its relevance beyond Southeast Asia.

SINGAPORE (IDN-INPS) – Southeast Asian countries still face major challenges in regional market integration and connectivity. ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) plans to strengthen connectivity through the development of a series of rail, road and water links offering regional powers not only the opportunity to secure overseas investment contracts but also to shape Southeast Asian infrastructure in their favour.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; OPINION; 20 September 2018

Photo: Development minerals in Zambia. Credit: developmentminerals.org

Catalysing Deep and Lasting Changes in the Minerals Sectors

A global conference in Zambia aimed at the improvement of the miners' productivity and its cumulative impact on poverty reduction at local and national levels.

By Dr. Patrick I. Gomes

The author is Secretary General of the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States comprising 79 member countries – 48 from sub-Saharan Africa, 16 in the Caribbean and 15 in the Pacific. ACP countries are endowed with enormous mineral resources. yet are characterised by chronic poverty, low human development and overall under-development; causing the categorisation of 39 ACP Member States as Least Developed Countries. – The Editor

: Dr. Patrick Gomes - ACP Seretary-General; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 19 September 2018

Photo: The leader of the opposition armed forces, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO), Riek Machar, shaking hands with his chief military and political opponent, the President of South Sudan, Salva Kiir to make a fresh joint commitment to peace for the sake of their people. Credit: UNMISS

South Sudan Moves from Despair to Hope after New Peace Deal

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – South Sudan, caught in brutal civil conflict for years, has engaged the United Nations three times since the South Sudan government and opposition groups signed a Revitalized Peace Agreement on September 13.

The country gained its independence from the Republic of the Sudan in 2011, after two civil wars – in 1955, four months before Sudan achieved independence and in the wake of President of Sudan Gaafar Nimeiry in 1983 declaring all Sudan an Islamic state under Shari'a law, including the non-Islamic majority southern region.

: J Nastranis; THE WORLD; Africa; 18 September 2018

Photo: A South African woman working on one of South Africa’s commercial farms. Credit: Australian Govt, Licensed under Creative Commons 2.0a

South Africa Is Determined to Grasp the Nettle of Land Reform

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Zimbabwe messed up its land reform. Now South Africa has decided to give a great push to its slow moving land reform. We'll see if it can avoid Zimbabwe's mistakes.

President Donald Trump tweeted that he'd asked his secretary of state to look into "farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of white farmers” in South Africa. That sounds more like what happened in Zimbabwe 25 years ago than what is going to happen in South Africa today, albeit the killings were not on a "large-scale”.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 18 September 2018

Photo: Chinese President Xi Jinping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Credit: PTI

Afrophobia and Racism Keep India Trailing Behind China

By Shastri Ramachandaran

The author is an independent journalist writing on political and foreign affairs. This article first appeared in NewsClick that claims to be an alternative to the corporate media in India on July 27, 2018, and is being reproduced by the permission of the author who give editorial support to IDN-INPS editor. – The Editor.

NEW DELHI (IDN-INPS) – Prime Minister Narendra Modi's current outreach to Africa, including his participation in the 10th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, is perhaps the right juncture to take a close look at India-Africa relations since he assumed office in 2014.