By J W Jackie RENO, Nevada, USA (IDN) — The White House has announced that it will be taking new actions to build black wealth and narrow the racial wealth and homeownership gaps that currently exist in the US. The Administration has vowed to “Take action to address racial discrimination in the housing market, including […]
US Should Commit to A No-First-Use Nuclear Policy
Viewpoint by Van Jackson* WELLINGTON, New Zealand (IDN) — It was one of the most potent lessons of the Cold War—nukes are good for deterring others from using nukes, but not much else. Weapons capable only of spasmodic mass violence are too crude as a credible tool of coercion in most circumstances. If the United […]
DON’T QUOTE ME: When the UN’s Most Powerful Body Enjoyed its Lighter Moments…
By Thalif Deen NEW YORK (IDN) — As the UN’s most powerful political body, the 15-member Security Council (UNSC) is armed with a mandate to maintain international peace and security. But regretfully, it has been missing in action (MIA) in recent months, particularly in the ongoing conflicts in Palestine and Myanmar, where it has failed […]
Sixteen States Urge the Nuclear-Weapon States to Take Decisive Steps Towards Disarmament
By Aar Jay Persius BERLIN (IDN) — “A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.“ On June 16, at their meeting in Geneva, US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin re-affirmed this fundamental truth, famously coined by their predecessors, Reagan and Gorbachev, at the last peak of the cold war, […]
Encounters with Refugees at the Three-Country Point between Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia
By Morgane Wirtz** Since the start of the conflict in Tigray in November 2020, Sudan has hosted more than 60,000 Ethiopian refugees. They are in addition to the tens of thousands of Eritreans the country receives each year. Some are fleeing massacres; others have been forced to fight. HAMDAYETE, Sudan (IDN) — The Sudanese village […]
Australia’s Early Success In Controlling Covid Turns Sour
By Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY (IDN) — Along with Singapore and New Zealand, Australia was considered as one of the top three safest countries in the world for having successfully fought the spread of Covid-19 until about two months ago. But, with a two weeks lockdown in Australia’s largest city Sydney extended for another week, this […]
Guiding Coal Companies to Meet the Dual Challenge of Net Zero and A Just Transition
Viewpoint by Noora Puro* AMSTERDAM (IDN) — As the build-up continues to the pandemic-delayed UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), all eyes—and hopefully all agendas—are on how to reach net-zero carbon emissions. And as the International Energy Agency (IEA) made clear in its recent Net Zero by 2050 report, this aim will fall short without a […]
Our World in The Year 2250
This column concentrates mainly on the culture of the Western world. Viewpoint by Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden (IDN) — In 1776 Adam Smith published his “Wealth of Nations” which has guided economists and political thinkers ever since. It marks the start of the Industrial Revolution that began in Britain and then spread throughout most of […]
China Accuses Australia of Sabotaging Its Vaccination Program in the South Pacific
By Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY (IDN)—China and Australia have started another battle, this time over the Covid-19 vaccination roll out in the South Pacific. In a lengthy article on July 2, China’s ‘Global Times’ accused Australia of sabotaging China’s Covid-19 vaccination assistance scheme in Papua New Guinea (PNG) by planting “consultants” to manipulate local epidemic policies […]
Nuclear Weapons Have Always Been Illegal; It’s Long Past Time to Abolish Them
“History is written by the victors. Thus, the heinous massacre that was Hiroshima has been handed down to us as a perfectly justified act of war…. It is clear that the use of nuclear weapons, which cause indiscriminate mass murder that leaves survivors to suffer for decades, is a violation of international law.”– Hiroshima Mayor […]