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Photo: Space science and earth observation can help institutions in sub-Saharan Africa face many challenges in integrating climate information to inform policy making in the management of natural resources, and reducing disaster risks. Credit: RCMD

Space Science Vital to Achieving Global Development Goals

By Justus Wanzala

NAIROBI (ACP-IDN) – Space science and earth observation are some of the key pillars in the attainment of most of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to experts participating in an international conference, organized by the Regional Centre for Mapping Resources for Development (RCMRD) in Kenya's capital city.

The central theme of the RCMRD International Conference (RIC 2018) was 'Space Science for Sustainable Development' with particular focus on agriculture and food security, weather and climate, water and hydro-climatic disasters, land use land cover and ecosystems, land management and surveying, and cross cutting themes.

: Justus Wanzala; SUSTAINABILITY; Poverty; 27 August 2018

Photo: Mass rally in Cuba marked ‘Che’ Guevara’s 50th death anniversary on October 9, 2017. Credit: CubaSi

Guevara and Marx: Critical Remake of an Old Film – 9

By Roberto Massari*

This is the ninth of a nine-part series. Read Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.

BOLSENA, Italy (IDN) – FADE-OUT … Scene 9[ Vallegrande, October 9, 2017]

The scene is composite, polychrome and multi-sound. On the large clearing for what in the past was to become the Vallegrande airport in Bolivia, some thousands of people convened by the government of President Evo Morales are gathered to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Che’s fall in combat.

There are many multi-coloured flags, but mostly red with the silhouette of Korda’s famous photo, Andean and Caribbean music, and the banners of political, trade union and cultural associations of various Latin American origins. In the days that proceeded, scholars of Guevarism from various parts of the world had spoken: the author came from Italy but, incredibly, was the only one from Europe.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 27 August 2018

Photo: Rohingya refugees in Kutupalong settlement in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, hold a sign demanding their repatriation to their homeland in Myanmar. Credit: Caroline Gluck/UNHCR

The Rohingya are Subject to Genocide, International Community Must Act

Viewpoint by Razia Sultana

The author is a Rohingya lawyer, researcher and educator specializing in trauma, mass rape and trafficking of Rohingya girls and women. She has been working with Rohingya women and girls in the refugee camps in Bangladesh documenting the stories of women and girls who fled Myanmar, and has published two reports: in 2017 and in February 2018. She is coordinator of the Free Rohingya Coalition, Director of Arakan Rohingya National Organization’s (ARNO) women section, and the founder of Rohingya Women Welfare (ROWW). – The Editor

DHAKA (IDN) – One year ago, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people arrived in Bangladesh from Myanmar with only the clothes on their back and stories of terror, rape, and murder. The UK, the U.S. and others have described the events as ethnic cleansing but I describe them without hesitation as genocide.

: IDN-INPS Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 26 August 2018

Image: Countries Che Guevara visited (red) and those in which he participated in armed revolution (green). Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Guevara and Marx: Critical Remake of an Old Film – 8

By Roberto Massari*

This is the eighth of a nine-part series. Read Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7.

BOLSENA, Italy (IDN) – MARXIST STORY: Scene 8 [Prague, 1966]

At this point we must devote attention to this polemic, trying first of all to imagine the scene: after the lengthy confinement in the Cuban ambassador’s house in Dar es Salaam, there is a drastic change of continent – from Africa to the heart of old Europe; a large villa on the outskirts of Prague; the semi-clandestine coexistence (Cuban-Czechoslovak “Operation Manuel”) with some of the closest companions (“Pombo” [b. 1940] and “Tuma” [1940-1967]); chess games; study and writing.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; History; 26 August 2018

Photo: PepsiCo Sustainable Agriculture's Water Project uses technology and agricultural skills to reduce global water use. Credit: PepsiCo

Asia Society Names a Global Company CEO as 'Game Changer'

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Asia Society, in partnership with Citi, has announced the Indian-born Indra K. Nooyi as Game Changer of the Year for 2018 in recognition of her "life-saving collaboration with the United Nations on food, nutrition, global water, climate, and women’s empowerment issues."

Asia Society President and CEO Josette Sheeran – also UN Secretary-General António Guterres' Special Envoy for Haiti since June 2017 – said: "In my United Nations work, I have witnessed firsthand her (Nooyi's) humanitarian leadership." She described her as "truly a transformational leader."

: J Nastranis; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 25 August 2018

Photo: Guevara meeting with French existentialist philosophers Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir at his office in Havana, March 1960. Sartre later wrote that Che was "the most complete human being of our time". In addition to Spanish, Guevara was fluent in French. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Guevara and Marx: Critical Remake of an Old Film – 7

By Roberto Massari*

This is the seventh of a nine-part series. Read Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

BOLSENA, Italy (IDN) – HERESY STORY: Scene 7 [from Moscow to Havana, 1963-65]

The starting scene for describing this intellectual revival of Guevara’s Marxism is set in Moscow and he described it himself in one of the stenographic recordings of the bi-monthly conversations he held at the Ministry of Industry from 1962 to 1964. Here we are especially interested in some of the recordings of Che’s last year in Cuba as a minister. They are informal but precious materials; even more precious because they have not been re-elaborated or reviewed thus, reflecting Che’s immediate – and by no means diplomatic – thoughts.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 25 August 2018

EU-U.S. Tussle Over Iran Sanctions and the Aftermath

By Kelsey Davenport

The author is Director for Non-Proliferation Policy at the Arms Control Association (ACA). This analysis is being reproduced from ACA's Special Newsletter of August 24, 2018. – The Editor.

WASHINGON. D.C. (IDN-INPS) – During an August 19-22 trip to Israel, National Security Advisor John Bolton said U.S. sanctions reimposed on Iran are having economic effects “even stronger than we anticipated” and that the United States expects that Europeans will see that the “choice between doing business with Iran or doing business with the United States is very clear.”

Iran figured prominently in discussions between Bolton and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 24 August 2018

Photo: Secretary-General António Guterres pays his respects during a ceremony honouring the memory and legacy of former Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who passed away on 18 August at the age of 80. Annan was the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations, serving from 1997 to 2006. 22 August 2018. United Nations, New York. Credit: UN Photo/Manuel Elias

Kofi Annan Was the United Nations, Says UN Chief Guterres

By Shanta Roy

NEW YORK (IDN) – Kofi Annan, the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations, and the first from sub-Saharan Africa, was the only UN chief who rose from the mid-level ranks of the professional staff to the 38th floor of the Secretariat.

At a wreath-laying ceremony in the UN precincts on August 21, Secretary-General António Guterres said "because of Annan's long and varied career in different offices and departments, it sometimes seemed as though Kofi knew everyone personally."

"But even staff members who never met him felt a bond with Kofi, because he was really one of us. In many ways, Kofi Annan was the United Nations," he declared.

: Shanta Roy; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; United Nations; 23 August 2018

Photo: In October 2017, Kofi Annan joined his successor as Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, and the current chief of the UN, Antonio Guterres at UN Headquarters in New York. On August 19, Guterres described Annan as “a guiding force for good” and a “proud son of Africa who became a global champion for peace and all humanity.” UN Photo/Mark Garten

UN's Fallen Chief Kofi Annan 'A Voice for the Voiceless’

By António Guterres

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks, as delivered, at the wreath-laying for Kofi Annan at United Nations Headquarters, in New York on August 22, 2018. Read also Kofi Annan: A Life of Service to People Across the World. – The Editor

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – We are here to pay tribute to Kofi Annan, one of the best of us, a man who embodied United Nations values and made us all proud to call ourselves his colleagues. This is a personal loss for many of us. It is difficult to imagine what a blow it must be to his wife and to his family. Our hearts go out to them.

We know how much Kofi meant to the world. I would like to say a few words about what he meant to all of us who work for the United Nations. Kofi Annan’s years in office were an exciting time.

: Ramesh Jaura; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; United Nations; 23 August 2018

Photo: Mary Robinson and Kofi Annan attend Citizens Manifesto event in Zimbabwe in July 2018. Credit: The Elders

The Elders Call for Restraint and Justice in Zimbabwe to Honour Kofi Annan’s Legacy

By The Elders

LONDON (IDN-INPS) – The Elders today urged Zimbabweans at every level in society to uphold the democratic rights to justice and peaceful protest, and refrain from words or actions that could incite violence, drawing on the counsel of their late Chair, Kofi Annan (1938-2018).

Ahead of the ruling by Zimbabwe’s Constitutional Court on the petition filed by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change Alliance regarding the 30 July election result, The Elders called on political leaders to act responsibly to avert further bloodshed.