By Kizito Makoye NORTH MARA, Tanzania | 17 June 2025 (IDN) — The sun crests over the savannah in a blaze of gold. A low rumble stirs the red earth as hulking machines crawl over the pit’s edge like beetles on a carcass. Below, men in safety gear signal toward a network of tunnels and […]
This Century is the Least Violent and Safest in History
By Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden | 16 June 2025 (IDN) — The world over, most of the public opinion is ignorant of just how much violence has declined over the last 3,000 years. Judging by the historical record, the 21st century, thus far, is the least violent and safest century of all, despite ISIS, despite […]
Rich vs Poor: How Effectively do Nations Use Their Resources?
By Reihshan Deen* COLOMBO, Sri Lanka | 13 June 2025 (IDN) — Why are some countries rich and others poor? An age-old question in economics, with numerous hypotheses suggested as answers. It is clear that being richly endowed with natural resources is not a reliable indicator; D.R. Congo lies atop substantial mineral wealth, yet its […]
The Georgetown Agreement — 50th Anniversary of the ACP Group of States — What of the Coming Decades?
By P.I Gomes The writer is a former Ambassador of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana to the European Union and ACP Group of States, Brussels (2005 -2015) and Secretary-General of the ACP Group of States (2015-2020). PORT OF SPAIN | 11 June 2025 (IDN) — On 6 June 1975 in Guyana’s capital city, the signing […]
Stop Intersex Surgeries: A Human Rights Imperative
By Dr. Kirsten Viola Harrison* LA JOLLA, California 11 June 2025 (IDN) — In January 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a landmark report recognizing the rights of intersex individuals-those born with biological characteristics that do not fit typical definitions of male or female. For a brief moment, there was […]
A Law of the Sea?
By Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden | 11 June 2025 (IDN) — David Attenborough said in his wondrous new documentary film, “Ocean”, it had taken him a long time in his 99 years of life to understand that for the survival of our planet the oceans are more important than the land. This week as we […]
UK High Court Rules Torture for Ransom Is Human Trafficking Exploitation
Landmark Decision Expands Legal Protections for Victims of Transnational Crime By Jaya Ramachandran UK High Court Rules Torture for Ransom Is Human Trafficking Exploitation Landmark Decision Expands Legal Protections for Victims of Transnational Crime By Jaya Ramachandran LONDON | 4 June 2025 (IDN) — In a landmark judgment that could reshape how the United Kingdom […]
UN Calls for Probe as Food Convoy is Destroyed in North Sudan
By J. Nastranis NEW YORK | 4 June 2025 (IDN) — A United Nations humanitarian convoy en route to the famine-stricken city of El Fasher in North Darfur has been attacked and destroyed in the town of Al Koma, currently under the control of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The assault left five people dead […]
Goodbye to the Iranian Nuclear Bomb?
By Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden | 4 June 2025 (IDN) — Is it agreement time in Iran? Is Iran going to bend to the will of the UN Security Council and engineer a compromise that will allow it to enrich uranium—but only to a small degree—in return for allowing the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency […]
An Era of Extreme Heat: Teleconnections of Glacial Risks from the Arctic to the Third Pole
By Elena Pronina, Consultant, ESCAP; Dr. Valentina Khan, Executive Director of North Eurasia Climate Centre, RosHydroMet; Dr Oksana Lipka, Deputy Director, Yu. A. Izrael Institute of Global Climate and Ecology; Leila Salarpour Goodarzi, Associate Economic Affairs Officer, ESCAP; Sanjay Srivastava, Chief of Disaster Risk Reduction, ESCAP BANGKOK, Thailand | 3 June 2025 (IDN) — As […]