By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — In the 1967 Hollywood box office hit “The Graduate”—a romantic comedy directed by Mike Nichols and based on a novel by Charles Webb—the newly-graduated Dustin Hoffman gets an unsolicited piece of advice: “The future is plastics”. The widely disseminated one-liner was hailed as a boost for the world’s […]
Ukraine-Russia Conflict: India Re-Asserts Strategic Autonomy
Viewpoint by Shastri Ramachandaran * NEW DELHI (IDN) — Washington has failed to push India into taking a stand against Moscow in the ongoing US-Russia confrontation, where Ukraine is a victim of both the superpowers. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is indefensible, as war or the use of military force is unacceptable as a means […]
The Ukraine Crisis Amid Fractured International Legal Order — Hypocrisy of the Powerful
Viewpoint by M Rafiqul Islam The writer is Emeritus Professor of Law, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. This article was issued by The Daily Star of Bangladesh and is being republished with their permission. SYDNEY (IDN) — The ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine once again has solicited world attention to the international legal order that has […]
What Can be Done to Reduce Land Forgery in Sri Lanka?
By Maheswary Sivapragasam The writer is a lawyer specializing in housing and property laws. COLOMBO (IDN) — As land forgery continues unabated in Sri Lanka, something has to be done to prevent the prevalent rate of land fraud, with legal owners and innocent buyers unknowingly falling into these traps. According to news sources, the Registrar […]
How the U.S. Has Empowered and Armed ‘Neo-Nazis’ in Ukraine
Viewpoint by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S. Davies* NEW YORK (IDN) — Russian President Putin has claimed that he ordered the invasion of Ukraine to “denazify” its government, while Western officials, such as former U.S. Ambassador to Moscow Michael McFaul, have called this pure propaganda, insisting, “There are no Nazis in Ukraine.”
South Africa Offers Opportunities for Foreign Investors
By Kester Kenn Klomegah* MOSCOW | JOHANNESBURG (IDN) — South Africa is in frantic search of foreign investors to boost its economy exposed to turbulences caused by two years of struggle to contain the global pandemic that triggered almost complete shutdown of businesses and production under lockdowns, which threaten economic efforts since the ambitious investment […]
The World is Plunging into a Dangerous New Cold War 2.0
Viewpoint by Dr Joseph Gerson The writer is President of the Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security NEW YORK (IDN) — Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Putin’s repeated tense threats to resort to genocidal nuclear attacks if the West intervenes more directly in Ukraine must be universally condemned and opposed. Despite Putin having told […]
Feminist UN Campaign Report Wants UN Chief to Walk the Talk
By J C Suresh WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) — “Talk less, act more …. All words are like feathers in the air,” commented an informant of the Feminist UN Campaign‘s report on UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ commitment to gender equality in his five-year first term. In fact, key informants reported that staff remain disillusioned with the […]
Russia-Ukraine Conflict: A World Citizen Calls for Upholding International Humanitarian Law
Viewpoint by René Wadlow, President, Association of World Citizens GENEVA (IDN) —The invasion by Russian troops into Ukraine has raised in a dramatic way the issue of the respect of international humanitarian law. There have been reports of the use of cluster munitions fired into civilian areas. The Association of World Citizens (AWC) was very […]
Are we Heading Toward WWIII & Nuclear War?
Viewpoint by Alice Slater The writer serves on the Boards of World Beyond War, the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space. She is also the UN NGO representative for the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. NEW YORK (IDN) — It has become unbearable to observe the western media, in the grip of corrupt […]