Inter Press Service | News and Views from the Global South | bTICAD7: PM Shinzo Abe says Japan will help double Africa’s rice production by 2030; Malaysia Vastly Undercounting Poverty; and more

Inter Press Service | News and Views from the Global South

UNICEF’s Goodwill Envoy a Messenger of ill-Will, Complain Critics Thalif Deen When two-time Wimbledon tennis champion Boris Becker, a UNICEF goodwill ambassador, refused to make a commitment not to play in South Africa, a country blacklisted for its apartheid policies, the UN children’s agency stripped him of the prestigious title, back in October 1987. “I will be 20 ... MORE > >

Let’s Walk the Talk to Defeat Climate Change – African Leaders Told Isaiah Esipisu African leaders have been asked to walk the talk, and lead from the front, in order to build resilience and adaptation to the adverse impacts of climate change on the continent. This was the message conveyed by several speakers at the ongoing eighth Climate Change and Development in Africa ... MORE > >

TICAD7: PM Shinzo Abe says Japan will help double Africa’s rice production by 2030 Nafissatou Diouf The Sasakawa Association will work with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), to help double rice production to 50 million tonnes by 2030. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made the announcement at the Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA) symposium held on Wednesday during ... MORE > >

Close the Door on Nuclear Testing Daryl G. Kimball Everybody knows that nuclear weapons have been used twice in wartime and with terrible consequences. Often overlooked, however, is the large-scale, postwar use of nuclear weapons: At least eight countries have conducted 2,056 nuclear test explosions, most of which were far larger than the ... MORE > >

Trade, Currency War Weapons Double-Edged Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram The US-China trade war has flared up again less than two weeks after US President Donald Trump delayed new tariffs of US0 billion on Chinese imports until December, purportedly to avoid harming the holiday shopping season. Ratcheting up war talk Earlier, after two days of trade talks ... MORE > >

What Would It Really Take to Plant a Trillion Trees? Tim Christophersen Tree planting is capturing the minds of those who look for fast climate action. Earlier this month, the Ethiopian Government announced a new world record: thousands of volunteers planted 353 million trees in one single day. This came shortly after a team of scientists identified suitable places in ... MORE > >

Malaysia Vastly Undercounting Poverty Philip Alston Malaysia lays claim to the world’s lowest national poverty rate by using an unduly low poverty line that does not reflect the cost of living and by excluding vulnerable populations from its official figures. While Malaysia has achieved undeniably impressive growth in reducing poverty in the ... MORE > >

Hong Kong Protests: A Peaceful and Violent Weekend Laurel Chor As protests in Hong Kong continue over the weekend, thousands of people joined hands to form a human chain that stretched across the city on Friday. It was yet another demonstration – this one entirely peaceful – in a series of protests that have rocked the former British colony for the past 12 ... MORE > >

Two Million Children in West and Central Africa Robbed of an Education Due to Conflict IPS Correspondent Fourteen-year-old Fanta lives in a tent in a settlement in Zamaï, a village in the Far North Region of Cameroon with her mother and two brothers. They came here more than a year ago after her father and elder brother were murdered and her elder sister abducted by the extremist group Boko ... MORE > >

Amazon Fires Heat Up Political Crisis in Brazil Mario Osava August is the month of major political crises in Brazil, but no one suspected that an environmental issue would be the trigger for the storms threatening the government of President Jair Bolsonaro, just eight months into his term. Protests against the fires sweeping Brazil's Amazon rainforest ... MORE > >

Little Hope of Justice for Rohingya, Two Years after Exodus James Reinl Two years after the start of an exodus of Rohingya civilians from genocide-like attacks in Myanmar, members of the mainly Muslim minority have little hope of securing justice, rights or returning to their homes, according to the United Nations and aid groups. Reports this week from the U.N. and ... MORE > >

G7 Leaders Urged to Promote Gender Empowerment Thalif Deen As leaders of the seven major industrialised nations (G7) meet in the coastal seatown of Biarritz in the south west of France, one of the world’s leading women’s organisations is calling for the protection and advancement of women worldwide. Katja Iversen, President/CEO of Women Deliver, and a ... MORE > >