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Photo: Ambassador A.L.A Azeez, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva, addressing the Eighth Meeting of Convention on Cluster Munition, accompanied by his team. Credit: Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva.

Sri Lanka Takes Over Presidency of a Landmark Convention Calling for 'A World Free of Cluster Munition'

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) – Sri Lanka has taken over the Presidency of the landmark Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) ten years after it was adopted, at the end of the Eighth Meeting of States Parties (8MSP) in Geneva from September 3-5, 2018. CCM is a legally binding international treaty that prohibits all use, stockpiling, production and transfer of cluster bombs, a type of explosive weapon which scatters 'bomblets' over an area.

Sri Lanka's presidency will run through till September 2019 when the Ninth Meeting of States Parties (9MSP) will take place. The South Asian country's Ambassador A.L.A Azeez, Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, will preside over 9MSP that, he said, "is an important turning point for my country in its move towards humanitarian disarmament".

: Jamshed Baruah; UN INSIDER; 06 September 2018

Photo: Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall, built between 1970 and 1973, was a gift from the People’s Republic of China in memory of Solomon Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike who was Prime Minister from 1956 to 1959. CC BY-SA 2.0

China and Sri Lanka: A History that Stretches Back into the Mists of Time – Trade, Religion and Diplomacy - 2

Viewpoint by Dr Palitha Kohona

The writer of this 2-part series is former Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations, former Foreign Secretary and former Head of the UN Treaty Section. The articles are based on a talk on 'China and Sri Lanka: A History that Stretches Back into the Mists of Time – Trade, Religion and Diplomacy' given in Sydney on August 26, 2018. Read Part 1 here. – The Editor

COLOMBO (IDN) – In this second part of the series on China and Sri Lanka giving a sweeping overview of the pivotal role of Sri Lanka throughout history, the author looks at latter-day international relations.

: Dr. Palitha Kohona; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 05 September 2018

Photo: The landmark Nelum Pokuna (Lotus Pond) Mahinda Rajapaksa Theatre is one of symbols of China-Sri Lanka Friendship. CC BY-SA 3.0

China and Sri Lanka: A History that Stretches Back into the Mists of Time – Trade, Religion and Diplomacy - 1

Viewpoint by Dr Palitha Kohona

COLOMBO (IDN) – Sitting in the middle of the Indian Ocean at the southern tip of India and the meeting point of the monsoon winds, and swirling ocean currents, Sri Lanka occupies an enviable strategic geographical position.

: Dr. Palitha Kohona; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 05 September 2018

Photo: Nigerian refugees in Gagamari camp, Diffa region, Niger. Violence inflicted by the terrorist group Boko Haram from northern Nigeria has destabilised the entire region and caused large scale displacements of people. Photo: EU/ECHO/Anouk Delafortrie

UN, Member States, Funding Institutions Unite to Ensure Security and Development in the Lake Chad Region

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN (IDN) – More than 17 million people across north-eastern Nigeria and parts of Cameroon, Chad and Niger, comprising the Lake Chad region, are facing a complex crisis driven by extreme poverty, climate change and violent conflict compounded by the terrorist activities of Boko Haram, a jihadist militant organization. As a result, more than 2.4 million people are displaced and over 10 million people need assistance to meet their basic protection and humanitarian needs.

Against this backdrop, 70 delegations from governments, regional and international organizations and civil society representatives participating in the High Level Conference on the Lake Chad Region have agreed on an aid package of US$ 2.17 billion to support humanitarian and peacebuilding as well as development activities to ensure security in the area.

: Ramesh Jaura; UN INSIDER; 04 September 2018

Photo: Sweden's third largest city Malmö, All sorts of wild ideas are now floating around about murder and rape. One of wild ideas now floating around is that because of immigrants the murder rate has gone up over the last two years. Photo source: Wikimedia Commons.

Sweden's Political Balance Threatened by Immigration Debate

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – The arrival in Sweden of 163,000 refugees, mainly Syrians, in 2015 – making for a higher proportion of Sweden's population than almost any other European country – has been used by the far right to drum up broader fears about immigration. A recent spate of shootings, grenade attacks and burnt-out cars has made many Swedes feel afraid of what is going on. This is despite international surveys showing it's the best nation at everything from economic competitiveness to doing good for humanity to achieving happiness.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 04 September 2018

Photo: Protests for freedom of Bobi Wine. Credit: Facebook Bobi Wine

Ugandan Leader Tarnished by Torture of Reggae Star Bobi Wine

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | KAMPALA (IDN) – Images of a popular reggae music star in a wheel chair holding crutches have raised questions of whether Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni ordered the arrest and torture of the star-turned-parliamentarian, Bobi Wine, who attended a rally of the opposition in the town of Arua.

Museveni was forced to release the star for treatment in the U.S. after an outcry by Wine's supporters.

Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, known professionally as Bobi Wine, arrived on September 2 in Boston. Initially blocked from boarding his flight, he was briefly held in a government-owned hospital before finally being released.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 04 September 2018

Photo: An evening glimpse of entrance to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Big Oil Locked in War with Institutions of the Art World

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – A growing number of museums in Europe are turning thumbs down on oil company dollars when the companies not only contribute to global warming but fund the "science" that supposedly disproves it.

Oil company funding also misleads public perception of environmental devastation as in Nigeria where billions of dollars were made extracting oil while highly toxic water and soil remain.

A recent study published in the International Journal of Hydrology found that levels of Cobalt, Copper and Iron are so high in the communities of Gokana, Ogoniland, River State, as to render their water unsuitable for human consumption due to the potential adverse health effect at high levels.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 04 September 2018

Photo: View of the ICJ courtroom on the opening day of the hearings. Credit: ICJ

Mauritius Approaches UN Court for Return of Diego Garcia

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – When colonial powers redrew borders in Africa and picked choice lands for themselves and less desirable land for everyone else, some of those deals remained through this century. Few were undone.

A case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) will decide if colonial deals that redrew African borders can be declared illegal and, if so, if islands taken by the United Kingdom from the nation of Mauritius can be rejoined to Mauritius as before.

Mauritius says it was illegally stripped by Britain of the Chagos Islands, now home to a major U.S. air base.

: Global Information Network; UN INSIDER; 04 September 2018

Photo: The Fourth BIMSTEC Summit was held in Kathmandu, Nepal on 30-31 August 2018. Credit: BIMSTEC.

BIMSTEC Viable, Though SAARC Deadlocked

By Sugeeswara Senadhira

The author is Director (Research & International Media), Presidential Secretariat in Colombo. This article first appeared in Ceylon Today on September 3, and is being reproduced with the author's permission. – The Editor

COLOMBO (IDN-INPS) – Sri Lanka, as the new Chair of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) has a special responsibility of ensuring speedy cooperation of the member states of the Bay region. Though this is not an easy task, Sri Lanka is fortunate because it can get maximum support from the regional super economic power, India, for this endeavour.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; OPINION; 04 September 2018

Photo: Lake Chad map. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Conference Comes to the Aid of Drought-Stricken, Boko Haram Terrorised Lake Chad Region

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN (IDN) – Foreign Minister Heiko Maas of Europe's powerhouse Germany, which joins the UN Security Council next January as a non-permanent member for 2019-2020, has pledged 100 million Euros (116 million USD) in emergency aid until 2020 to lessen the sufferings of over 10 million people in Africa's crisis-ridden Lake Chad region. This is in addition to 40 million Euros already earmarked to aid political stability in 2018 and 2019.

Maas, who was opening a two-day high-ranking international donor conference in Berlin on September 3 said the Lake Chad region – once a crucial interface between the Sahara and the southern part of Africa – is "one of the greatest humanitarian disasters of our times".