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Viewpoint by Dr Ameer Ali
The writer is a lecturer in economics at the School of Business and Governance, Murdoch University, Western Australia.
PERTH (IDN) – The July 7 'Rally of the Un-Enlightened', that fizzled out without the expected turnout of 10,000 Buddhist monks, was the most emphatic demonstration yet by the majority Sinhala Buddhists that they would not allow hatred and bigotry to hijack the millennial legacy of peaceful coexistence of different religions and cultures in Sri Lanka.
By Kizito Makoye with Goodhope Amani
DAR ES SALAAM (IDN) – It is a typically hot and humid afternoon in Gongo la Mboto on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam and Abdullah Nyambi is busy shoving plastic waste into a giant metal kiln with an iron rod ready to make pavement slabs.
With a shiny yellow breathing mask perched on his nose, Nyambi briskly mixes the melting plastic while methodically sprinkling sand on it to make it stiff. “We use any type of plastic to make the slabs,” says Nyambi, with trails of sweat soaking his yellow T-shirt. A plume of black smoke rises into the sky as fierce fire obliterates the plastic material and turns it into a thick liquid.
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power
LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – The attack on “the liberal idea” by Vladimir Putin in his long interview in the Financial Times at the end of June is still vibrating in my mind.
First, I’d like to know if the Russian people share his views on immigration. In Britain and the U.S., despite the anti-immigrant rhetoric and actions of Prime Minister Theresa May and President Donald Trump, most people, according to polls, are more pro-immigration than they are against.
By Caroline Mwanga with SDSN News
NEW YORK (IDN) – The 2019 US Cities Sustainable Development Report by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network’s United States Network (SDSN USA) finds that there will be significant work to do across the board if the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 (SDGs) are to be achieved by 2030. This is the SDSN’s third city-level report ranking 105 US cities on progress towards realizing SDGs.
By Jaya Ramachandran
GENEVA (IDN) – "Over the past 40 years the ACP and the EU have promoted a unique trade and development cooperation model that inspires global North-South cooperation," said Viwanou Gnassounou, Assistant Secretary-General of the ACP Group of States, at the 'Aid for Trade' Global Review 2019.
"Evidently from the post 2020 EU-ACP trade cooperation, the objective of maintaining inclusiveness while seeking to achieve greater integration into the global economy and promoting sustainable development remains central going forward," added Gnassounou.
Its new fundamental research division could help the company regain international favour and outmanoeuvre the U.S.
By Karen Hao | Technology Review
The writer is the artificial intelligence reporter for MIT Technology Review. In particular she covers the ethics and social impact of the technology as well as its applications for social good. This article first appeared in MIT Technology Review.
CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, USA (IDN) – In just the past week, the U.S.’s stance on China’s Huawei has become very confused. On Saturday [June 29], during the G20 summit, President Donald Trump announced that he would ease restrictions on the company, allowing U.S. companies to sell goods to it once again. But by Tuesday [July 2] an email sent to the Commerce Department’s enforcement staff, seen by Reuters, reiterated that Huawei should still be treated as on the blacklist.
By Kester Kenn Klomegah
MOSCOW (IDN) – Parliamentarians from the United States, Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa gathered here for a three-day international forum at the initiative of the State Duma, the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, to discuss the development of international parliamentarism and the most pressing national, regional and global issues, and agree on some effective approaches to determine the future of mankind in the modern world.
The agenda included topical issues on international security and stability, the development of a digital economy, youth and environmental policies. The Russia-Africa parliamentary conference was held within the framework of the forum.
By Kizito Makoye
DAR ES SALAAM (IDN) – When Monica Makona failed to obtain the bank loan, she badly needed to grow her business two years ago, she did not lose hope. Armed with her android smartphone, Makona tapped into TALA – a popular lending app she had previously downloaded – and within minutes she received the money.
"It was a very quick process, she told IDN in an interview, adding happily, “I received notification from TALA that 20,000 Tanzanian shillings (10 dollars) had been paid into my Tigo pesa mobile account."
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – If a democratic society is characterized by “tolerance, diversity and open-mindedness,” three countries in Africa have now reached that pinnacle.
Botswana joined Angola and Mozambique in de-criminalizing same-sex relations in June 2019. High Court Justice Michael Lebruru, in his defining decision, added: “human dignity is harmed when minority groups are marginalized.”
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – The government of Muhammadu Buhari is bringing back the teaching of history in all basic and secondary schools – ending a decade in which departments of history were dismantled or merged into other programs as having little earnings potential for the high school graduates. In a release signed by Sonny Echono, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, all basic and secondary schools in Nigeria immediately were to implement this policy from the next academic calendar.
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