Viewpoint by Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden (IDN) — By any reasonable measure violence should have had its day. Throughout our long history violence and war have solved little. In most cases, if not all, war could have been pre-empted by deft diplomacy and non-violent action. Take Afghanistan where after America’s longest ever war the US […]
Asian Sports Should Be Better Represented in Olympics
By Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY (IDN) — Japan was the first Asian country to host a summer Olympic Games in 1964 and this year became the only Asian country to host it twice. The Olympics that concluded on August 8, included very few sports that could be called Asian, and the question begs whether Japan had […]
Code Red for Humanity — Imminent Risk of Hitting 1.5 degrees C
By António Guterres, UN Secretary-General NEW YORK (IDN) — Today’s IPCC Working Group 1 Report is a code red for humanity. The alarm bells are deafening, and the evidence is irrefutable: greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel burning and deforestation are choking our planet and putting billions of people at immediate risk. Global heating is […]
Sacred Rock-Hewn Churches Threatened in Ethiopian Civil War
By Lisa Vives NEW YORK (IDN) — Lalibela, a holy site for Ethiopian Orthodox Christians and home to 13th century rock-hewn churches—a world heritage site—has been caught between the warring forces of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the central government in Addis Ababa, according to reports from the region. In a statement issued […]
Ugandan Blogger Seized in Turkey as Censorship Tightens on Social Media Activists
By Lisa Vives NEW YORK (IDN) — Fred Kajjube, aka Lumbuye, a controversial blogger, social media activist and critic of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, has been arrested in Turkey and extradited to Uganda where he was picked up by police at the airport. His whereabouts currently are unknown, according to several news reports, Human rights […]
Vaccine Saved My Life, Says Head of Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
By Lisa Vives NEW YORK (IDN) — One thing the head of the agency leading Africa’s response to the coronavirus pandemic is sure of. He owes his life to the vaccine that beat the virus. “I want to be very clear that without [the vaccine] I wouldn’t be here,” said Dr. John Nkengasong at a […]
India Aims to Use Its Security Council Seat to Show Why It Should Be Permanent
By Stéphanie Fillion, Passblue NEW YORK (IDN) — The presidency of the Security Council is always a high time for a country’s diplomacy, but for India right now, it’s more than that. In August, the country is going to try to show the world why it deserves a permanent seat in the United Nations’ most […]
UN Notes ‘Stalled’ Progress on Nuclear Disarmament
By UN News NEW YORK (IDN) — The world needs the continued moral leadership of the people of Hiroshima, the top United Nations disarmament official said, commemorating the 73rd anniversary of the atomic bombing that devastated the city while lamenting that after decades of momentum towards a nuclear-free world, “progress has stalled.”
Call for ‘Immediate Signing’ of the Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty
By MATSUI Kazumi, Mayor of the City of Hiroshima Every year on August 6, the City of Hiroshima holds a Peace Memorial Ceremony to pray for the peaceful repose of the victims, for the abolition of nuclear weapons, and for lasting world peace. During that ceremony, the Mayor issues a Peace Declaration directed toward the […]
Affordable Clean Cooking Technology Important To Achieving Sustainable Energy Access
By Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY (IDN) — In the Asia-Pacific region which is home to about 60 percent of the global population, some 1.6 billion people primarily rely on open fires or simple stoves fueled by kerosene, coal, or biomass such as wood, dung and agricultural residues for their daily cooking needs, that impacts on climatic […]