By Jamshed Baruah GENEVA (IDN) – People’s rights are under fire “in many parts of the globe,” but there is no need to lose hope, because powerful grassroots movements for social justice have made great strides, according to UN Secretary-General António Guterres. While the Human Rights Council was the “epicentre” for dialogue and cooperation on […]
UN Acclaims European Support for Implementation of Biological Weapons Convention
By Ronald Joshua GENEVA (IDN) – The activities funded by the European Union are making a difference on the ground and are helping countries to develop their capacities against the threat of proliferation of biological weapons by States or non-States actors. This was one of the conclusions at an EU side event that was organised […]
IAEA Keen to Enhance Nuclear Security in Africa
By Reinhard Jacobsen VIENNA (IDN) – Enhancing regulatory framework for nuclear security in Africa has been on the agenda of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), nuclear watchdog of the United Nations, for nearly two years. Against this backdrop, lawyers and nuclear scientists from 10 African countries reviewed the status of their countries’ regulatory frameworks […]
Shrinking Biodiversity of Plants Cultivated for Food Poses Severe Threat
By Jaya Ramachandran ROME (IDN) – In the first-ever report of its kind FAO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, has presented surging and perturbing evidence that the biodiversity that underpins our food systems is disappearing – putting the global population’s health, livelihoods and environment under severe threat. FAO’s State of the […]
UN Warns Against Emerging Hypersonic Weapon Technologies
By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) – Emerging hypersonic weapon technologies present a challenge for the existing arms control and disarmament architecture at a time when it is already under strain. Because hypersonic weapons do not count towards the limits of the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty), which is the key arms control agreement […]
On the Precipice of a Multipolar Qualitative Nuclear Arms Race
Viewpoint by Izumi Nakamitsu Following are extensive excerpts from a video briefing by Izumi Nakamitsu, the United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), to the 65-nation Conference on Disarmament in Geneva on 7 February 2019. NEW YORK | GENEVA (IDN-INPS) – 2019 will be a weighty year for the Conference on Disarmament. As a […]
Europe Ventures to Speak Up Against USA
By Somar Wijayadasa* NEW YORK | MUNICH (IDN) – “The whole liberal world order appears to be falling apart – nothing is as it once was,” said Wolfgang Ischinger, a senior German diplomat in an opinion article in the run-up to the 2019 Munich Security Conference (MSC) that he chairs. He added: “When Vladimir Putin […]
Consumerism and Proselytism Threatening Buddhism in Asia
By Natcha Lim This article is the 28th in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate. Click here for previous series. BANGKOK (IDN) – Buddhist scholars attending the 1st Makhapuja International Conference on ‘The Future of Buddhism in Asia’ have warned that consumerist trends within […]
A Nuclear Arms Race Will Produce No Winners
Despite everything, it is still in our power to avoid nuclear confrontation. Viewpoint by Mikhail Gorbachev* MOSCOW (IDN-INPS) – The fate of the INF treaty has politicians and ordinary people worried on every continent. I am also concerned, and not only because I signed that treaty with former U.S. President Ronald Reagan in Dec. 1987. […]
U.S. and Canadian Baby Boomers Retiring to Mexico
By Bill Dahl* REDMOND, Oregon, USA (IDN) – The term boomerang is considered a noun and a verb. As a noun, it is defined as a curved flat piece of wood that can be thrown so as to return to the thrower, traditionally used by Australian Aborigines as a hunting weapon. As a verb, boomerang […]