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Viewpoint by Paul W. Franks and Joacim Rocklöv*
LUND | Umeå, Sweden (IDN) – More than half a million people have died from COVID-19 globally. It is a major tragedy, but perhaps not on the scale some initially feared. And there are finally signs that the pandemic is shuddering in places, as if its engine is running out of fuel. This has encouraged many governments to relinquish lockdowns and allow everyday life to restart, albeit gingerly.
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*
LUND, Sweden (IDN) – One of the founders of Russia's Pussy Riot rock band, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, was interviewed at length on the BBC this past weekend. She has no time for President Vladimir Putin. When the group played inside the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour she was sent to jail for two years for "religious hatred". She doesn’t seem bitter but she seems damning. She thinks that last week’s referendum on a new constitution was only held to cement Putin in power for another couple of decades. She barely discussed the other articles of the constitution.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – As Americans explore the renaming of army bases, statues, streets, and schools that honour racist slave-holders or portray demeaning relationships between whites and Black, Brown and Latinx citizens, similar efforts are underway in Senegal and Liberia most recently.
Goree, an island in Senegal linked closely with slave trade, has decided to rename one of its main squares in response to the anti-racist movements around the world.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – Ethiopian protest singer and revered musician Hachalu Hundessa sang about love and unity, recalled his friend Amensisa Ifa, raising issues that many would not dare to bring up.
He addressed issues of marginalization – capturing the struggles and frustrations of his Oromo people who faced efforts by successive Ethiopian regimes to destroy the Oromoo language, exploit its precious resources, and expropriate Oromo lands into an expanded Addis Ababa.
Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene
The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-In-Chief of The Interview magazine based in Abuja, Nigeria.
ABUJA (IDN) – After three and a half years of his presidency, US President Donald Trump appears to have exhausted all surprises in the bag, except, of course, the next one. And that next one could be the big one: Will Trump leave the White House if he loses the presidency on November 3?
Discussions about it first started in hushed tones and informal offline chats. But as poll after poll predicted a bleak future for Trump, discussions about his reaction to a possible defeat have been forced into the open.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – "The martyrs are returning home." Those were the words of noted historian Malika Rahal on learning that the remains of 24 Algerian resistance fighters, killed in the Algerian independence war of 1954-62, would be flown back to Algeria after years kept by the French in a museum’s storage area.
"The body parts of those who fought the conquest of their country are returning home after a very long stay in cardboard boxes at the Musee de l'Homme in Paris," Rahal said.
By Kalinga Seneviratne
This article is the 42nd in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, the flagship of the International Press Syndicate. Click here for previous reports.
SINGAPORE (IDN) – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a special address given on Asadha Poornima day on July 4 marking the anniversary of Gautama Buddha's first sermon said Buddhism teaches respect for people, and respect for peace and nonviolence.
Income Opportunities for Women
By Ramesh Jaura
BERLIN | TOKYO (IDN) – Togo in West Africa is the venue of a milestone project between Soka Gakkai, a global community-based Buddhist organization and the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO). The two have signed a memorandum to launch a reforestation project offering income opportunities for women's groups in two rural areas of Togo.
The memorandum involving a donation of 10 million yen (US$93,300) for the initial one-year phase of the project was signed on July 1 at the Soka Gakkai (SG) headquarters in Tokyo. The project will kick off on September 1.
Viewpoint by John Scales Avery*
COPENHAGEN (IDN) – The total human population and economy have imposed excessive weight on the global environment, as discussed in my new book circulated and freely downloadable from http://eacpe.org/app/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Malthus-Revisited-by-John-Scales-Avery.pdf
Thomas Rpbert Malthus' "Essay on The Principle of Population", the first edition of which was published in 1798, was one of the first systematic studies of the problem of population in relation to resources. Earlier discussions of the problem had been published by Boterro in Italy, Robert Wallace in England, and Benjamin Franklin in America.
News briefs compiled by Suresh Jaura*
TORONTO | NEW DELHI (IDN) – The focus of news in Indian media in the second half of June was on the start of human trials by India's 'first' indigenous COVID-19 vaccine, a nod to Indian start-ups to participate in space activities, emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi on June 25, 1975, persecution of 'dissenters', restrictions against Chinese goods, and Russian assurances to stand-off with India against China.
This interactive WHO dashboard/map provides the latest global numbers and numbers by country of COVID-19 cases on a daily Basis.
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.
IDN-InDepthNews serves as flagship agency of the International Press Syndicate and its partner, the Global Cooperation Council, established in February 1983.