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By Milena Melnikova*
NUR-SULTAN (IDN) – When Kazakhstan went to the polls on June 9 with six candidates challenging the incumbent president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, one may have thought that the people had a clear choice to make after almost three decades. But many young people in this oil-rich former Soviet Republic do not share that view. Subsequently, they did not bother to vote and when asked had a similar answer: “Does not matter, everything is already known without us."
By Kalinga Seneviratne
This article is the 33rd in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate. Click here for previous series.
SINGAPORE IDN) – Thousands of Indonesian Buddhists went on a 4 km procession from Mendut monastery to the historic Borobodur temple in Central Java to pay homage to the Buddha on Vesak day. The procession on May 18 passed a number of mosques with streets lined up with hundreds of local Muslims.
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power
LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – When I was in Moscow three weeks ago, I was briefing myself for an interview with the Soviet Union’s last president, Mikhail Gorbachev. As it happened, he had to cancel it as he went into hospital for tests.
One of the American academics I always read is Gordon Hahn, an ex-fellow of the highly regarded Centre for Strategic and International Studies. He wrote that American policy towards Russia is a runaway train without rails, driven by a troubling confluence of hubristic ideological influences and bureaucratized sectorial interests.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK | YAOUNDE (IDN) – Facing a growing pro-democracy movement, Cameroon is resorting to an old formula – namely unleashing government power in the form of threats, arrests and excessive force.
Hundreds of supporters of Maurice Kamto, leader of the opposition Cameroon Resistance Movement, have been filling the streets, demanding his release from detention but were detained themselves by security forces on June 8, 2019. According to his lawyer, Kamto could be charged with: insurrection, hostility against the homeland, criminal association, threats to public order, rebellion, group rebellion, and inciting insurrection.
By J Nastranis
NEW YORK (IDN) – The United Nations is at risk of running out of cash, Secretary-General António Guterres warned in a letter to UN staff in July 2018 and stated that he had “written to Member States regarding the troubling financial situation facing the United Nations”. The situation has not changed for the better since.
In fact, nearly one year later, the situation is preventing the Organization from reimbursing troop- and police-contributing countries in a predictable and timely manner, hindering their ability to provide lifesaving support to peacekeeping operations, Guterres cautioned on June 4, 2019.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK | MONROVIA (IDN) – Liberian President George Weah is having a few bad days. And more may be on their way. A citizen action group – the Council of Patriots (COP) – has a long list of demands covering governance, human rights and the rule of law, national peace and reconciliation, integrity and accountability, among others. The group has called on President Weah to part ways with some of his closed lieutenants they believe are not up to the task and may cause him more harm politically.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK | KINSHASA (IDN) – The father of Democratic Republic of Congo's President Felix Tshisekedi, opposition icon Etienne Tshisekedi, was laid to rest on June 1 in his homeland more than two years after he died in Belgium during a political stalemate over the country's long-delayed elections.
Thousands took part in the procession which made its way to the outskirts of Kinshasa following several days of tributes to the man who was the face of DR Congo's opposition for decades but died before his political nemesis agreed to step aside and allow a new presidential vote to go forward.
By Santo D. Banerjee
NEW YORK (IDN) – A vibrant and diverse network of students, academics, scientists, researchers, think tanks, and institutions of higher education around the world, serve as incubators of new ideas, inventions and solutions to diverse global challenges, and are therefore vital to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI), says its Chief, Ramu Damodaran, aligns these institutions with the United Nations in supporting and contributing to the realization of the Organization's goals and mandates, including the promotion and protection of human rights, access to education, sustainability and conflict resolution.
Viewpoint by António Guterres
The following are extensive excerpts from the Secretary-General's address on May 30, 2019 in Germany at the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen, the ancient continental capital for the Unity of Europe, close to the French border, where he received the prestigious Charlemagne Prize, awarded each year since 1950, for services towards European unification. The European Union, which grew out of the ashes of two world wars, has forged “an exemplary partnership” with the United Nations, said the UN chief, and the breakup of the 28-nation political and economic bloc, “would inevitably be the failure of multilateralism and the failure of a world in which the rule of law can prevail”. – The Editor
Viewpoint by Ram Puniyani
This article is the seventh in a series of joint productions of South Asian Outlook and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate.
MUMBAI (IDN) – The result of 2019 Lok Sabha polls are out and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has come back to power, with BJP increasing its percentage of votes and the number of seats. This came as per the prediction of BJP leaders, particularly Amit Shah who stated before the results that BJP will cross the three hundred mark.
UN Messenger of Peace @JaneGoodallInst introduces @IRIforests, a new global effort uniting people of all faiths to end tropical deforestation. Watch the video and share this important message: InterfaithRainforest.org/video #FaithsForForests.
