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Photo: Collage of the book cover and Kalinga Seneviratne's picture at a railway station in a Southeast Asian country.

Buddhism Under Threat in Asia, Warns New Report

By Krishan Dutta

BANGKOK (IDN) — A new report released by the Sydney-based Lotus Communication Network (LCN) on February 26 warns that Buddhism is under threat across Asia, both from within and outside, and calls for concerted action by Buddhists across the region to empower themselves.

The 238-page report produced as an eBook identifies six issues that threaten Buddhism in Asia, a region, whose identity over the centuries has been built around what is called the ‘Indic-Buddhist’ civilization. These issues include proselytism targeting Buddhist communities, particularly by Evangelical (Pentecostal) Christian groups and lately Wahabi Islamists.

: Krishan Dutt; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 01 March 2021

Photo: An event to commemorate the first anniversary of the abduction of Chibok schoolgirls in northern Nigeria held by CEE-HOPE in Makoko, Lagos Nigeria. CC BY-SA 4.0

Seven Years Since Chibok, Search on for Missing Schoolgirls in Latest Nigerian Kidnap

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — Nail-biting negotiations are underway for the release of 317 schoolgirls kidnapped on February 26 in north-western Nigeria — a region beset by banditry that takes thousands of lives each year. Terms of a large ransom are reportedly being discussed but officially denied.

Frightened parents who raced to the scene on hearing gunshots arrived too late to rescue their daughters at the Government Girls Secondary School in Jangebe, a village in Zamfara state. Police say they believe the girls in a state of distress were taken to a forest after being abducted at about 1 a.m. from their boarding school.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 01 March 2021

Photo: Long lines of people forced to flee Ethiopia's Tigray region waiting outside the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) office in Sudan's Um Rakuba camp. Photo: Ingebjørg Kårstad/NRC

U.S. President Biden Concerned About "Deteriorating Humanitarian Crisis" in the Horn

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — In what may be U.S. President Joe Biden’s first major test in Africa, a key U.S. ally stands accused of undertaking a campaign of ethnic cleansing, massacring hundreds of unarmed civilians and threatening the fragile stability of the region.

President Biden, confronting the scenario linked to U.S. ally Ethiopia, shared his concerns in a telephone call on February 25 to Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 01 March 2021

UN Youth4Disarmament Recognized by 'Billion Acts of Peace'

By Devinder Kumar

Note: This is a revised version of the article with the headline Youth4Disarmament's Billion Acts of Peace

NEW DELHI (IDN) — Disarmament is at the heart of the collective security system set out in the United Nations Charter, with its goal to "save succeeding generations from the scourge of war". In commemoration of the United Nation's 75th anniversaries and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) established the "75 Words for Disarmament Youth Challenge", which was launched on August 12 International Youth Day and closed on September 26, the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.

: Devinder Kumar; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 28 February 2021

Photo: The Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Louisiana transits the Hood Canal in Puget Sound, Wash., Oct. 15, 2017, as it returns to its homeport following a strategic deterrent patrol. Photo By: Navy Lt. Cmdr. Michael Smith | DOD

Nuclear Modernization Race Continues Despite New START

By J C Suresh

TORONTO | WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) — While independent arms control experts around the world heaved a sigh of relief at Joe Biden's signature decision to extend the New START Treaty with Russia through February 4, 2026, Pentagon officials say it is "just the beginning of a larger discussion with Russia and China about placing further limits on nuclear weapons proliferation".

The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense (DOD). As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase The Pentagon is also often used as a metonym or synecdoche for the Department of Defense (DOD) and its leadership.

: J C Suresh; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 28 February 2021

From Moments to Movements: Solidarity for Sustainability

By Ramu Damodaran

The writer is Chief, United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) hosted in the Department of Global Communications. This OpEd first appeared in the latest #WhyWeCare, @ImpactUN.

NEW YORK (IDN | UNAI) — "STOP" said the imperious red sign (actually two red signs) as I ventured to the frostily frigid February frontline of the Atlantic coast, an injunction reminiscent of an earlier time when the United States chose to inhibit its interests within an isolated domain, a time that the Second World War brought to a definitive end when, in 1941, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Winston Churchill concluded the Charter named for that ocean, one of whose clauses spoke of a peace that "should enable all men to transverse the high seas and oceans without hindrance", "voyages as metaphorical as literal, the nascent nautical navigations that we speak of today" as "global engagement", in the phrase of the title of the annual summit convened by the United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA) and the United Nations Foundation (UNF).

: UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 27 February 2021

Photo: Global temperature rise could lead to more frequent and more intense extreme weather events, such as prolonged droughts or devastating floods. Credit: WFP/Matteo Cosorich

UN Issues 'Red Alert' In A Climate Action Report

By Radwan Jakeem

NEW YORK (IDN) — A UN climate action report warns that nations are “nowhere close” to the level of action needed to fight global warming. It urges countries to adopt stronger and more ambitious plans to reach the Paris Agreement goals, and limit the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, by the end of the century.

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)’s Initial NDC Synthesis Report measures the progress of national climate action plans, known as Nationally Determined Contributions or NDCs, ahead of the 26th session of the Conference of its Parties (COP26) this November in Glasgow.

: Radwan Jakeem; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 26 February 2021

Photo: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet. (file) Credit: UN News/Daniel Johnson

UN Concerned About the Impact of COVID-19 and Human Rights Violations

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) — Providing a global update to the Human Rights Council, Michelle Bachelet has said that as the COVID-19 pandemic gathers pace, people worldwide are “being left behind — or pushed even further behind”; they are being excluded from not only development but also opportunities. At the same time, civil society activists are being denied the right to voice opposition to the government.

“This makes us all weaker”, she warned the Council's virtual meeting on February 26. “It heightens grievances that are destabilizing. It means we miss perspectives and expertise that could inform and strengthen our initiatives. It shields corruption and abuses, by silencing feedback.”

: Jamshed Baruah; UN INSIDER; 26 February 2021

Image: Collage of Hubble Ultra Deep Field includes galaxies of various ages, sizes, shapes, and colours (left) and Atomic bombings of Nagasaki.

The Creative and Destructive Aspects of Homo Sapiens

Viewpoint by Sergio Duarte

The writer is Ambassador, former High Representative of the United Nations for Disarmament Affairs and current President of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs

NEW YORK (IDN) — We do not know exactly how many millennia ago human beings started their ascent among other species to become dominant over the planet. We can, however, pinpoint with certainty in the Industrial Revolution the beginning of the rapid development of science, manufacturing techniques, trade and other skills that allowed unprecedented material progress particularly since the second half of last century.

: Sergio Duarte; OPINION; 25 February 2021

Image: Sunrise, Fog, Landscape, Mountains, Mist, Morning, Dawn as in diplomacy. Source: Pixabay.

The Great Game of Vaccination Diplomacy Targets Africa

By Kester Kenn Klomegah*

MOSCOW (IDN) — Russia is committed to helping eradicate the rapidly increasing coronavirus infections in Africa amounting to approximately 3.8 million with its latest developed Sputnik V vaccine. Such a step will enable Russia to reassert its geopolitical influence that involves a keen competition with other foreign players on the continent.

An official media release in mid-February said that the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Task Team — set up by the African Union to acquire additional vaccine doses so that Africa can attain a target immunization of 60% — has received an offer of 300 million Sputnik V vaccines from the Russian Federation.