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Photo: G7 leaders with their family members. @GretaTunberg

G7 Judged a 'Colossal Failure' for All the World to See

Viewpoint by Jon Queally*

PORTLAND | USA (IDN) — Anti-poverty groups, climate campaigners, and public health experts reacted with outrage and howls of disappointment Sunday after the G7 leaders who spent the weekend (June 11-13) at a summit in Cornwall, England issued a final communique that critics said represents an extreme abdication of responsibility in the face of the world's most pressing and intertwined crises—savage economic inequality, a rapidly-heating planet, and the deadly Covid-19 pandemic.

: Opinion Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 13 June 2021

Photo: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson poses with the world leaders at the extended family photocall during the G7 Summit at Carbis Bay hotel in Cornwall, UK on June 12, 2021. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

WHO Welcomes G7 Commitment to Donate Vaccines but Asks for "More" and "Faster"

By Jaya Ramachandran

GENEVA (IDN) — The leaders of seven industrial nations, constituting the Group of Seven (G7 Summit), have pledged in a landmark agreement to share COVID-19 vaccine doses internationally, in support of global equitable access and to help end the acute phase of the pandemic. In doing so, they have built on the momentum of the G20 Global Health Summit hosted by Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on May 21 and the Gavi COVAX AMC Summit hosted by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of Japan on June 2.

: Jaya Ramachandran; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 13 June 2021

An Indian Ocean Island That Comes with an Expiry Date

By Thalif Deen*

NEW YORK (IDN) — Just after a band of mercenaries tried to oust the government of the Maldives, I asked a Maldivian diplomat about the strength of his country's standing army. "Standing army?", the diplomat asked with mock surprise, "We don't even have a sitting army."

With a population of about 250,000, back in March 1999, the Maldives was perhaps one of the world’s few countries with no fighter planes, combat helicopters, warships, missiles or battle tanks. As a result, the island's fragile defenses attracted a rash of free-lance mercenaries and bounty hunters who tried to take over the country twice—once in 1979, and a second time in 1988.

: Thalif Deen; UN INSIDER; 12 June 2021

US Withdrawal from Afghanistan and National Security

Viewpoint by Manish Uprety F.R.A.S. and Jainendra Karn

Manish Uprety is an ex-diplomat & ALCAP’s Special Advisor for Asia & Africa and Jainendra Karn is a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of IDN-InDepth News.

NEW DELHI (IDN) — Who would have thought that Heroin which inspired Lou Reed to write a cult classic in 1967 would be discussed in the strategic circles of global democracies especially for its national security implications in the twenty-first century.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 12 June 2021

Photo credit: European Union | Mathias Eick

EU and the US Concerned About the Humanitarian Emergency in Tigray

By Reinhardt Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (IDN) — Together with the United Nations, the European Commission has urged "all parties to the conflict" in Ethiopia’s Tigray region to agree to "a ceasefire immediately to facilitate humanitarian assistance to reach all people in need in Tigray regardless of where they are and to stop violence against civilians".

Leading representatives of the two organizations had a virtual meeting on June 10 to discuss the situation seven months into the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 11 June 2021

Photo credit: A faith-based legal advocacy organization, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International showing Dalits.

Mounting Atrocities Against Dalits Across India

India is witnessing a worrying decline in the social status of the Dalits, coupled with an economic decline. This makes the marginalised groups even more vulnerable.

Viewpoint by Dr Ram Puniyani

This article is the 13th in a series of joint productions of South Asian Outlook and IDN-InDepthNews, the flagship of the International Press Syndicate. The writer is a former professor of biomedical engineering and former senior medical officer affiliated with the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (now Mumbai) and meanwhile a social activist and commentator.

: Suresh Jaura; THE WORLD; South Asia; 11 June 2021

Photo: UN Headquarters in New York. Credit: Wiki Commons/Neptuul (CC)

No Bold Actions Yet to Stop the Flows of Dirty Money

Viewpoint by Maíra Martini *

NEW YORK (IDN) — Governments gathered for the first-ever UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) against corruption June 2-4, 2021. This could have been an opportunity for the more and the less advanced economies to come to the table and discuss bold improvements to the current international anti-corruption framework and architecture. It fell short.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 11 June 2021

Photo: Two women at an empowerment workshop. Credit: High Atlas Foundation.

Heart Disease in Morocco and Empowerment Workshops

By Carlie Daniel

Carlie Daniel is an Intern with the High Atlas Foundation and a student at the University of Virginia.

MARRAKECH (IDN) — Heart disease is a prevalent chronic disease in Morocco and has been one of the leading causes of death over the last 10 years. Heart disease can be prevented through lifestyle changes, but people must be made aware of the steps they should take to effectively curb this health concern.

: Africa & ME Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 10 June 2021

Photo: Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari. Credit: CGTN Africa.

What Twitter Ban Teaches the World About Nigeria

Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene

The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria.

ABUJA (IDN) — The Nigerian government thinks Twitter is the greatest source of its misery. After straining at the leash for months, it couldn’t resist swatting the microblogging platform with a ban last week. But what does the ban mean, really?

It means that about 40 million users in Nigeria who are mostly young people would be unable to access the service through local service providers.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 10 June 2021

Photo: The writer who just turned 80. Source: www.jonathanpowerjournalist.com

'Maintaining A Sense of Hope' In A Time of Corona

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — There’s hardly a person alive who doesn’t know that the Third World continents of Africa, Asia and Latin America are having a desperate struggle fighting the Coronavirus. At a time when the richer countries are winning the fight against the virus many Third World countries—like Brazil, India and South Africa—are overwhelmed by it.