By International Organization for Migration Sana’a, Yemen, Oct 19 (IOM) – In early October, three Ethiopian boys in Yemen told IOM, the UN Migration Agency, “we miss our family and can no longer stay here.”
Category: Op-Ed
British Airways apologises for bed bugs on Canada flight
British Airways has apologised to a Canadian family after they were bitten by bed bugs on an overnight flight. Heather Szilagyi was flying from Vancouver to London with her eight-year-old daughter and fiancé earlier this month, CTV reported.
Aid network’s ‘innovation labs’ to prepare 4 countries for disasters
A global network of aid agencies has launched four new “innovation labs” in Bangladesh, Jordan, Kenya and the Philippines, aimed at finding fresh ways to help local communities prepare for disasters.
George Saunders’ ‘Lincoln in the Bardo’ wins 2017 Man Booker prize
Saunders takes American author George Saunders has won the 2017 Man Booker Prize, a high-profile literary award, for his first novel, “Lincoln in the Bardo,” – a fictional account of US President Abraham Lincoln burying his young son.
Ending poverty in 13 years means boosting resilience now
UN, Oct 17 (IPS) – This month the world marks two key International Days: for the Eradication of Poverty on 17 October and for Disaster Reduction, four days earlier. It is no coincidence that they are profoundly connected. Reducing risks…
Women pivotal to addressing hunger, malnutrition
New York, 13 Oct (IPS/Lakshmi Puri) — The 16th of October marks World Food Day, a reminder to the international community of the criticality of treating food security as a 21st Century priority if sustainable development, peace and security and…
$500m Green Climate Fund for REDD-plus results-based pay
Delhi, 17 October (Indrajit Bose) — The Board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) has decided to allocate up to USD 500 million for a request for proposals (RFP) for the pilot programme for ‘reducing emissions from deforestation and forest…
Eat less meat to cut drug resistance, says study
Dyna Rochmyaningsih Jakarta – Cutting meat consumption is one of three strategies that an international team of scientists recommends to tackle the rising problem of antibiotic resistance stemming from abundant use in animal farming.
Bangladesh’s baul (mystic) saint Lalon Fakir remembered
The 127th death anniversary of Fakir Lalon Shah, the most prominent figure of country’s baul tradition, will be observed here today amid tight security measures. Marking his death anniversary, different programmes including a three-day fair from October 16 to 18,…
A private-sector solution to the refugee crisis
Nirj Deva Brussels – International development is not just about alleviating poverty; it is also about delivering security, stability, and economic opportunities to poor and fragile communities, thereby preventing citizens from having to flee their home country in search of…
South Africa’s Rhino Paradox
Johannesburg – Earlier this year, South Africa’s Constitutional Court overturned a 2009 moratorium on trade in rhinoceros horns. It was a devastating blow for animal conservation groups, which had hailed a measure that aligned South Africa with the global ban…
Queen supports modern slavery legislation across C’wealth
The Queen has asked lawmakers to replicate the 2015 Modern Slavery Act in the 52 Commonwealth nations. The Guardian reports:
A core of strength amidst a sea of change
by Jón Baldvin Hannibalsson What are the prospects for the Nordic-Baltic region (5+3) in a decidedly unstable international environment? The situation is radically different from what it looked like in the late 1980s and 90s. It is mostly due to…
Thousands face needless suffering at end of life
Carry Out Policies Promising Pain Relief New York —Tens of thousands of patients with terminal illnesses in Morocco needlessly suffer from debilitating pain and other symptoms, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today to coincide with World Cancer…
Australia skydiving: Three dead after midair collision
Three skydivers have died in Queensland after they apparently collided mid-air, say Australian authorities. Paramedics and police were called to Mission Beach, a popular skydiving spot about 140km (87 miles) south of Cairns. Two men in their 30s, and a…
Facebook’s Sandberg favours release of Russia-linked ads
A top Facebook executive says ads linked to Russia trying to influence the U.S. presidential election should “absolutely” be released to the public, along with information on whom the ads were targeting. Previously, Facebook declined to make the ads public.…
First evidence: online dating changing nature of society
Dating websites have changed the way couples meet. Now evidence is emerging that this change is influencing levels of interracial marriage and even the stability of marriage itself. Not so long ago, nobody met a partner online. Then, in the…
The geoengineering fallacy
Barbara Unmüßig Geoengineering technologies are not yet deployable globally, but support for them is advancing fast, thanks to backing by powerful advocates eager to start experiments. But no silver bullet for climate change exists, and we must not abandon proven…
Intellectual property: Draft texts on IGC dilute mandate
Geneva, 11 Oct (K M Gopakumar) – The draft decision text on the mandate and work program of the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) dilutes the existing mandate given by the General…
Argentina heads for World Cup, but hurdles remain
Dhaka, Oct 12 (AP/UNB) – Argentina was in trouble until the final round of South American qualifying for the World Cup, and needed Lionel Messi to seal his country’s place at soccer’s global showcase. Now comes the really difficult part.
Fixing food system to solve humanity’s greatest challenges
By Elwyn Grainger-Jones Montpellier, France, Oct 11 (IPS) – We are at a moment of huge opportunity in the world’s food system. We can continue on our current trajectory of consuming too little, too much, or the wrong type of…
The psychology of mass killers: How can you prevent it?
Robert J. Burrowes In Las Vegas on 1 October 2017, it appears that one man (although it might have been more) killed 59 people and shot and injured another 241 (with almost 300 more injured while fleeing). The incident got…
Yangon’s first step to ease Buddhist-Muslim tension
Myanmar on Tuesday launched its first bid to improve relations between Buddhists and Muslims since an eruption of deadly violence in August inflamed communal tension and triggered an exodus of some 520,000 Muslims to Bangladesh, Reuters news agency has reported.
Revelations point to a rigged 2016 US election result
By Joe Rothstein Donald Trump spent much of the 2016 campaign warning us that the result of the presidential election would be rigged. Events of the last few weeks suggest he may have been right and that his presidency is…
World running out of antibiotics: WHO report confirms
A report – Antibacterial agents in clinical development – an analysis of the antibacterial clinical development pipeline, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis – launched today by the World Health Organization (WHO) shows a serious lack of new antibiotics under development to combat…
Oral cholera vaccination kicks off at Rohingya camps
A massive cholera immunization campaign began today in southeast part of the country to protect the newly influx of Rohingya people and host communities from the life-threatening diarrheal disease. “Primarily, we are administering 650,000 people aged one year and older…
Eskayef’s Rohingya relief operation
-Prof. M Zahidul Haque Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina while recently visiting the Rohingya refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar expressed her firm determination to help the Rohingyas on the humanitarian ground saying- “If we can feed 160 million people, we can…
Opportunities, costs and risks in digital economy
Geneva (Kanaga Raja) – While the digitalization of economic activities and transactions can help to overcome barriers to more inclusive development, significant divides in the readiness of countries to engage in and benefit from the digital economy enhance the risk…
How to eradicate rural poverty, end urban malnutrition
By Baher Kamal Rome, Oct 9 (IPS) – Population growth, increasing urbanisation, modern technologies, and climate change are transforming the world at a fast pace. But what direction are these transformations headed in? Are they benefitting the poor and the…
Kazuo Ishiguro’s Nobel Literature Prize
Masum Billah Hats off to Kazuo Ishiguro, a Japanese origin British novelist who has been awarded the prestigious Nobel Prize for Literature for the year 2017, for highlighting the curse of war, its aftermath and the background. Waging war is…