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COVID-19 Accelerates Digitilization of Economies and Societies

Viewpoint by Kaveh Zahedi *

A defining feature of the post-COVID world will be the digital transformation of the world, though it might also widen gaps in economic and social development within and between countries. The digital transformation has gone hand in hand with the rise of digital technologies, writes Kaveh Zahedi, the Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

BANGKOK (IDN) — We are living through a decisive moment. The COVID-19 pandemic’s devasting impact is reaching every corner of the world. As we look back at this period, we will see history divided into a pre-COVID and a post-COVID world.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 06 May 2021

Image Credit: Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations.

Avert the Worst Impacts of Climate Disruption

Viewpoint by António Guterres

Chancellor Angela Merkel and the German government convened this year’s Petersberg Climate Dialogue virtually on May 6 with Alok Sharma, the UK Chair-designate of 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), in Glasgow, from November 1 to November 12, 2021. UN Secretary-General António Guterres also spoke. Following are major excerpts from his remarks.

NEW YORK (IDN | UNDG*) — Six months ahead of COP26, and still deep in the COVID-19 crisis, I would like to share my assessment of where we stand.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 06 May 2021

Photo: Health workers in front of the Jumbo Covid facility in Pune on May 5. (Express photograph by Arul Horizon)

Modi Govt. Abdicates Responsibility in the Face of Skyrocketing Death Toll

Viewpoint by Prabir Purkayastha*

NEW DELHI (IDN) — The COVID-19 pandemic continues its brutal march across India. Figures of new infections reached 355,828 on May 3—which accounted for more than 62 percent of the world’s new infections on that day. As hospitals run out of beds, ICU capacity, and even oxygen, these factors have been contributing to the already skyrocketing death toll in the country. Dead bodies in mortuaries, crematoria and burial grounds speak of the awful toll of the pandemic.

: South Asia Bureau; THE WORLD; South Asia; 05 May 2021

Photo: Tents of the homeless in San Francisco, California, May 2020. CC BY 2.0

Conquering Poverty in America Is Possible

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — Adam Smith who in 1776 wrote “The Wealth of Nations”, the Bible of capitalism, which has become the standard economics text for over two centuries, was quick to single out monopolistic tendencies as the most important tool in undermining the virtues of capitalism. It kept the poor poor. The laws that give these capitalists their freedom to exploit the marketplace, so-called rent-seeking, “may be said to be all written in blood”. At the moment, Amazon is in the firing line for practicing such practices. Indeed, a majority of Silicon Valley companies rent-seek. Big pharma companies, like Pfizer, which is expecting this year 25% profits on its corona virus vaccine are another.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 04 May 2021

Photo: Indian-Australians Stranded in India. Credit: The Canberra Times.

Australians Blast Government For "Racist" Indian Flight Ban

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) — A controversial ban on flights from Covid-hit India landing in Australia, has blocked around 9,000 Australians from returning home. Most of them are Australians of Indian origin, while there are also a handful of Australian elite cricketers, coaches, and other officials currently taking part in the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket extravaganza.

This unprecedented move of banning its own citizens from returning home has angered many Australians, who have also branded this move by Prime Minister Scott Morrison government as "racist" because no such bans were imposed on flights from the UK and US during the peak of the pandemic there.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 04 May 2021

The US and EU Boost Access to Covid-19 Vaccines and Waive the Patents

Viewpoint by Lori Wallach

Lori Wallach is the director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch. This is a slightly abridged version of a blog post by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) New York.

WASHINGTON DC (IDN | IPS-Journal.EU) — As we see infection rates in India and other parts of the world skyrocketing, European Union (EU) and US government officials regularly declare that the Covid-19 public health disaster and resulting economic crises will not end anywhere unless people everywhere are vaccinated. Yet the two World Trade Organization (WTO) heavyweights are blocking an initiative now supported by 100 nations that could boost access to Covid-19 vaccines, treatments and diagnostic tests worldwide. On 5 May the issue will again come to a head at the WTO. The US and EU must join the rest of the world.

: Opinion Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 04 May 2021

Photo: UN Secretary-General António Guterres briefs the Informal 5+1 meeting on Cyprus in Geneva. UN Photo/Violaine Martin

Cyprus: Toward a Non-territorial Confederation?

Viewpoint by Rene Wadlow, President, Association of World Citizens

GENEVA (IDN) — Three days (April 27-29, 2021) of "informal" talks on the future of Cyprus were held in Geneva under the leadership of UN Secretary-General António Guterres. There have been no formal negotiations on the issue since 2017.

The UN-sponsored meeting with representatives of Greek and Turkish Cypriots as well as representatives of Greece, Turkey, and the United Kingdom—the former colonial power—was to ascertain if there is enough common ground to start negotiations later this year.

: Rene Wadlow; UN INSIDER; 03 May 2021

Photo: Protesting for freedom of the press. Source: Global Investigative Journalism Network

Confronting Misinformation and Harmful News Content

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — News of working journalists in Africa is often a tale of threats, abduction, forced disappearance and arrest.

Most recently, two Spanish journalists and an Irish national were abducted near a nature reserve in Burkina Faso. Government officials confirmed their deaths on April 2. It remains unclear who carried out the attack.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 03 May 2021

Photo: President Cyril Ramaphosa at the 10th BRICS summit, comprising the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, in July 2018. CC BY 4.0

Pres. Ramaphosa Says ANC Party Did Little to Thwart Corruption

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — In riveting testimony before a South African commission investigating corruption and graft, President Cyril Ramaphosa acknowledged that the ruling ANC party did little to prevent corruption, including by his predecessor Jacob Zuma.

“State capture and corruption have taken a great toll on our society and indeed on our economy as well,” Ramaphosa said. “They have eroded the values of our constitution and undermined the rule of law. If allowed to continue they would threaten the achievement of growth, development and transformation of our country.”

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 03 May 2021

Photo: SFC Commander, Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba. CC BY-SA 4.0

Uganda President's Son Led Elite Force Linked to Rights Abuses

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — Senior military commanders, including the son of President Yoweri Museveni, have been named in a case before the International Criminal Court for a wave of abductions and torture—adding new charges to claims levelled by opposition politician Robert Kyagulanyi, the former reggae singer known as Bobi Wine.

Prosecutors at the ICC are already reviewing an early submission from Wine that described widespread human rights abuses before presidential polls held in January.