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Photo source: Global Information Network

Growing Anger Over Soaring Prices in South Africa

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | PRETORIA (IDN) — "We cannot breathe, comrades. We cannot breathe when today it costs more than $277 to buy food for a family of just four people. No!"

That was Moalusi Tumane, a schoolteacher in Palm Ridge, east of Johannesburg, speaking to some 1,000 workers who marched last week to the seat of government in South Africa’s capital Pretoria to protest the country’s soaring cost of living, including record-high fuel prices and more expensive basic foods.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 29 August 2022

Photo: Freetown street protest. Source: France24

High Prices Spark Rare Street Disturbance in Sierra Leone

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | FREETOWN (IDN) — The crisis of inflation taking a toll on the poor and middle class has spread to Sierra Leone, where rare protests shook the capital of Freetown.

Workers have been clearing broken glass from downtown restaurants. “It was an explosion of violence,” said Mohamed Sillah of the damage inflicted on his and other buildings. “We don’t usually see this in Sierra Leone but we are in tough times.”

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 29 August 2022

Photo: TICAD8 participating heads of delegations pose for the official family photo. TICAD Tunisia.

Japan Strengthens African Ties with Generous Pledge of Investment

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — African heads of state and a Japanese delegation are meeting to discuss “African-led” development at a meeting in Tunisia. Financial aid was discussed.

Tunisian President Kais Saied welcomed the participants to the 8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development—or TICAD— from August 27-28 in Tunis, where Japan promised $30 billion in investment in African aid to be delivered over three years, with smaller amounts also available for African food security.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 29 August 2022

Photo: Vanessa Nakate, a Ugandan climate justice activist. CC BY-SA 4.0

A ‘Rousing Manifesto and Poignant Memoir’

Ugandan Activist’s New Book

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — A young climate activist from Uganda about to address the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, faced one final indignity from western media when they staged a photo op of her with her white climate colleagues and then clipped her out of the final shot.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 29 August 2022

Image: Tenth NPT Review Conference. Credit: GEDES

A Four-Week Festival of Double Standards

Hypocrisy & Outright Lying by Nuclear-armed States

By Jackie Cabasso

The writer is Executive Director, Western States Legal Foundation, who participated in the Tenth NPT Review Conference, which concluded on August 26.

NEW YORK (IDN) — The 10th NPT Review Conference didn't fail because it couldn't produce a final document. It failed because the nuclear-armed states haven't made good on their fundamental nuclear disarmament obligation under Article VI of the Treaty, undertaken 52 years ago, nor on the promises and commitments to action items that would lead to nuclear disarmament they agreed to in connection with the indefinite extension of the Treaty in 1995 and in the 2000 and 2010 final documents.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 28 August 2022

UN Can Model Innovative Ways to Engage Youth

Time for a National Forum or Assembly

By Simone Galimberti

The writer is the Co-Founder of ENGAGE, a not-for-profit NGO in Nepal. He writes on volunteerism, social inclusion, youth development and regional integration as an engine to improve people's lives.

KATHMANDU (IDN) — One of the pillars of Our Common Agenda, the UN Secretary-General's global blueprint on delivering a better future based on cooperation and multilateralism, is a strong focus on inclusion, protection and participation.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 28 August 2022

Photo: BlackRock Headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, New York City (cropped from top). CC BY-SA 3.0

Privatizing Sri Lanka ex-ante IMF Bailout of BlackRock

India's Adani Greenwash in Mannar and Pooneryn

Viewpoint by Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake

COLOMBO (IDN) — The Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, was rocked again by massive protests against austerity measures imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which have been taking place since July 2022. Structural reforms with austerity have resulted in soaring inflation, currency depreciation, poverty and inequality that is eroding Argentine society and economy while enabling bail-out of private lenders and vulture funds like BlackRock.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 26 August 2022

Photo: Late Prof. Hasbullah. Source: Colombo Telegraph

Being Abroad and Local: Late Prof. Shahul Hasbullah

By A. L A. Azeez

Former Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva

COLOMBO (IDN) -- Most comments that have come out in public since the sad passing away of Prof. Hasbullah in August 2018 appear to give due credit to him for the work he has done to highlight the plight of the displaced community.

That work extends to an exploration of the complexities of the phenomenon of IDPs and other demographic and geographical issues. Empirical facts gathered through that very process have contributed to a global understanding of the multidimensionality of that phenomenon.

: A. L. A. Azeez; THE WORLD; South Asia; 26 August 2022

US Remains Restrained Over North Korea's Missile Tests & Nuclear Threats

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — The US response to North Korea's continued missile tests—and occasional nuclear threats—has been surprisingly restrained.

The reaction has been summed up in two words: dialogue and diplomacy.

On August 17, North Korea fired two cruise missiles toward the sea off its west coast. And, according to a report on Cable News Network (CNN), military officials from South Korea and the US have been analyzing the launch for "further details”.

: Thalif Deen; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 25 August 2022

Photo source: United States Institute of Peace

Electoral Epic Of “Hustler Vs. Dynasty” in Kenya

Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene

The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria.

ABUJA (IDN) — One of the ironies of politics is how easily fiction becomes reality, and reality, precedent. Before our eyes, the president-elect of Kenya, William Ruto, who has played all sides of Kenya’s politics for at least three decades, has just won an election by claiming to be an outsider.

Ruto’s electoral epic of “hustler vs. dynasty” appears to have wiped off all memory of his 30-year involvement in the good and bad of Kenya’s politics. This legend won him a razor-thin victory over Raila Odinga in the August 9 presidential election.