THE WORLD

Photo: African Union Summit participants. Credit: The African Union.

Incoming African Union Chief Announces End of Colonialism

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – A stirring call to action was delivered this week in the august hall of the African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, spoken by the incoming AU president Cyril Ramaphosa to distinguished members of the continental a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa.

In his presentation at the AU’s 33rd summit, the South African President wove history with commentary into a tapestry of hope for a continent which has had its share of strife and downfalls.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 11 February 2020

Photo: Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at the European Policy Centre in Brussels on 10 February. Source: The Minister’s twitter account.

Looking Forward to Scotland’s Return to EU Membership

Viewpoint by Nicola Sturgeon

The following are extensive excerpts from the address of Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at the European Policy Centre, a leading Brussels-based think tank, on February 10. She was in Brussels for a series of engagements to make Scotland’s voice heard in Europe.

BRUSSELS (IDN) – This is the first time I have been here – or indeed anywhere outside Scotland – since the UK left the European Union ten days ago.

Brexit was a sad matter for me, and for many people in Scotland and indeed across the UK.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 10 February 2020

Photo: Australian bushfires: Source: East Asia Forum.

Australia’s Exceptional Vulnerability to Climate Change

Viewpoint by Andrew Walter*

MELBOURNE (IDN) -- The bushfires now ravaging Australia’s flora, fauna and rural communities on an unprecedented scale underline the country’s exceptional vulnerability to global heating and its strong interest in global climate change mitigation and adaptation. Decarbonisation should be taken as an economic opportunity and it could elevate Australia’s leading role in Asia for years to come.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 10 February 2020

Photo credit: The conversation.Photo credit: The conversation.

Towards a Constitutional Crisis: Scotland and Britain After the General Election

Viewpoint by Michael Keating*

ABERDEEN (IDN) – Choppy waters lie ahead for both defending and defeating the union that is the United Kingdom, with Scotland and England having diverged sharply in their choices at the recent general election (December 2019).

Campaigns in both countries focused on Brexit but in Scotland equal prominence was given to the prospect of a second referendum on independence. In 2014, Scots voted by 55 percent to remain in the UK after a campaign in which both sides shared the wish to stay in the European Union. Two years later, Scotland voted by 62 percent to remain in the EU.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 09 February 2020

Nigerians Seeking Visas to Settle in the US Face New Hurdles

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – She’s your pediatrician. He’s your surgeon. She’s a civil engineer. He has a doctorate. She’s an Emmy Award winner. He was a Chicago Bear.

They’re Nigerian-Americans who have set down roots in Dallas, Chicago, Baltimore, Atlanta, Phoenix and Houston – the latter of which has the largest Nigerian population outside Brazil and Africa.

They are the largest group among African immigrants in the U.S. – about 327,000. They’re a tiny portion of the U.S. population, but they rank as the most successful ethnic group in the U.S.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 05 February 2020

Photo: Emergency ministerial meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Jeddah rejects US President Donald Trump's Middle East plan. — SPA

Pan-Islamic OIC Rejects Trump’s Israeli-Palestine Plan

By Jessica Corbett *

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN) – Joining global critics of a plan that President Donald Trump unveiled on January 28 to address the decades-long Israel-Palestine conflict, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on February 3 rejected the "biased" proposal and urged members states not to cooperate with U.S. efforts to enforce it.

At a meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the OIC executive committee adopted a resolution which decried Trump's so-called "Deal of the Century," reaffirmed support for the Palestinian people and the Palestine Liberation Organization headed by Mahmoud Abbas, and emphasized that "peace and security in the Middle East region, as a strategic option, will only be achieved with the end of the Israeli occupation."

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Middle East; 05 February 2020

A ‘Green’ Message Shakes Up the Industry at Mining Confab

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – After years of defending dirty extractive industries such as the mining of coal, large mining companies seemed to have switched sides and joined the Greens, or so it seemed at the African Mining Indaba held from February 3-6 in South Africa.

At the Indaba, the continent’s biggest gathering of one of its most vital industries, the companies appeared less combative than in years past. Among the highlights of the conference was a statement by Mark Cutifani, head of Anglo American, a multinational company based in Johannesburg, South Africa and London.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 04 February 2020

Photo: The session on climate emergency at Jaipur Literature Festival. (L to R Ms. Renata Dessallien, resident coordinator of UN in India; Ms. Namita Waikar, managing editor of online journal PARI; Ms. Shubhangi Swarup, writer and filmmaker; Ms. Dia Mirza, Actress and UN Advocate for Sustainable Development. Credit: UN India/Yangerla Jamir.

UN Avails of Famed Literature Festival to Achieve Global Goals

By Devinder Kumar

JAPIPUR (IDN) – As part of a Decade of Action for accelerating sustainable solutions to all the world’s biggest challenges — ranging from poverty and gender to climate change, inequality and closing the finance gap – the United Nations availed of a new tool end of January: the world’s largest literature festival in India’s eminent ‘pink city’ of Jaipur, the capital of the scenic, almost magical Indian state of Rajasthan. It is known as the Pink City due to the colour of the stone used for many of its glorious palaces and historic monuments.

: Devinder Kumar; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 04 February 2020

Photo: Mohamed Ibn Chambas, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel, briefs the Security Council meeting on peace consolidation in West Africa and the Sahel. New York on 8 Jan 2020. Credit: UN

Russia Shares UN Concern About Rising Terrorism in Africa

By Kester Kenn Klomegah

MOSCOW, (IDN) – UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), Mohamed Ibn Chambas, told the UN Security Council’s first formal meeting in 2020 that the West African region has experienced "a devastating surge in terrorist attacks against civilian and military targets". These have "shaken public confidence" and the humanitarian consequences are alarming, he said.

: Kester Kenn Klomegah; THE WORLD; Russia; 03 February 2020

Photo: Westminster am 31 January 2020. CC BY 2.0

Why Brexit Has Not and Will Not Trigger EU Disintegration

Viewpoint by Douglas Webber*

LONDON (IDN) – Brexit could radically change the UK. Both Scottish independence and Northern Ireland breaking away from Britain are conceivable and Boris Johnson’s government has a lot on his plate when it comes to negotiating the country’s future relationship with the EU, all the while delivering on the promised benefits of independence.

For the EU, Brexit marks more of a return to business as usual. The prospective fallout of Brexit will be rather less far-reaching or dramatic. At the time of the 2016 referendum, there were widespread fears that Brexit would unleash a contagion effect among other member states that could destroy the EU.