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By Martin Plaut
LONDON (IDN | Eritrea Hub) – The Tigray war has turned into an all-out conflict, pitting Tigrayan forces loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation front (TPLF) against Ethiopian federal troops, the Eritrean army, Amhara militia and – as revealed last week – Somali soldiers.
Despite what would seem to be overwhelming odds against them, the Tigrayans appear to be holding their own in large areas of the region.
Viewpoint by Enze Han
The writer is an Associate Professor at the Department of Politics and Public Administration, the University of Hong Kong.
HONG KONG (IDN) – Amid the worsening domestic COVID-19 situation, Myanmar’s election in November 2020 brought a landslide victory for the National League for Democracy (NLD) under the leadership of Aung San Suu Kyi. Despite voting restrictions in parts of Rakhine and Shan states, the election was overall a step in the right direction, and the NLD increased its majority in the Pyithu Hluttaw (lower house) and Amyotha Hluttaw (upper house).
Viewpoint by Alyn Ware
The author is Director of the World Future Council Peace and Disarmament Program. He is also the International Representative of the Aotearoa Lawyers for Peace.
PRAGUE (IDN) – January 22 was a historic day for the global campaign to eliminate nuclear weapons, with the entry-into-force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). According to promoters of the TPNW, nuclear weapons "are now illegal under international law".
Viewpoint by P. I. Gomes*
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago (IDN) – The “catastrophic moral failure” into which the world is seen as heading, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), Director-General, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, can readily be understood as having its ideological basis in the callous principle of “profits before people for optimum shareholder-value”.
Our 21st century world of increasing gross inequality need not sound so “catastrophic”. Its origin lies in the historically dominant practice of large multinational pharmaceutical corporations delivering well-researched products, supposedly, to improve/save the plant, animal or human life.
By Ramu Damodaran
The writer is Chief, United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) hosted in the Department of Global Communications. This OpEd first appeared in this week’s #WhyWeCare, @ImpactUN on January 22.
NEW YORK (IDN | UNAI) – Memory, more than modesty, made me miss mention last week of the single exclusive conversation I was privileged to have with Brian Urquhart and which lasted all of ninety seconds.
Viewpoint by Tariq Rauf
The writer is the former Head of Verification and Security Policy at the International Atomic Energy Agency and was a member of the Group of Eminent Persons for Substantive Advancement of Nuclear Disarmament established by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan.
VIENNA (IDN) – As the day broke today, 22 January 2021, a new era dawned in which nuclear weapons now are prohibited – finally banned – 75 years after the invention and use of nuclear weapons.
By Kalinga Seneviratne
SYDNEY (IDN) – Asian newspapers have welcomed the new American President Biden’s “engaging with the world” message in his inauguration speech to that of his predecessor Trump’s “America First” rhetoric. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has welcomed President Biden’s “engaging” tone in his speech on January 20.
NEW YORK (IDN) – Amanda S. C. Gorman is an American poet and activist from Los Angeles. Her work focuses on issues of oppression, feminism, race, and marginalization, as well as the African diaspora. She was the first person to be named National Youth Poet Laureate. She published the poetry book "The One for Whom Food Is Not Enough" in 2015. In 2021, she delivered her poem "The Hill We Climb" at the inauguration of Joe Biden.
Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene
The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of The Interview magazine based in Abuja, Nigeria.
ABUJA (IDN) – Whether Jean-Jacques Rousseau miscredited the words to Marie Antoinette in Confessions or not, Nigeria is happy to supply a modern-day princess who has earned the title of Her Royal Spite-tress without controversy.
And unlike Antoinette reputed to have tossed the infamous pate, “Let them eat cake”, out her window when the mass of ordinary people in France was dying for breadcrumbs, her Nigerian cousin travelled thousands of miles to find her groove.
Viewpoint by Somar Wijayadasa*
NEW YORK (IDN) – January 20 was a historically momentous day as Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States of America, and Kamala Harris, a person of colour was sworn in as the first woman Vice President – and now the highest-ranking woman in US history.
After taking the oath of office, President Biden said he wants “to restore the soul of America, bringing America together, uniting our people, and uniting our nation”.
IDN-InDepthNews offers news analyses, features, reports and viewpoints that impact the world and its peoples. It has been online since 2009. Its network spans countries around the world.