InDepthNews, Author at IDN-InDepthNews

Individual Journalists, SYNDICATION2016-03-292023-07-12

Turkey Winding the Clock Back Before the EU Lowers the Drawbridge

Analysis by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – In the 1970s there was a cult film, “Midnight Express”, directed by the young Oliver Stone. It was based on the story of an American who was sentenced to 30 years in a Turkish prison for smuggling drugs. It showed in stark reality the total lack of any semblance of human rights or normal human behaviour by the Turkish authorities. It was that impression of Turkey that many of us carried forward, even as Turkey in fact was profoundly changing.

Even today some hold on to what is now a discredited viewpoint, particularly in France, a country that has long made it clear it will obstruct any move to bring Turkey into the European Union. Anti-Turkey feeling exists elsewhere, particularly in Germany which has far more Turkish immigrant workers than any other nation. However, the truth is the Turkey of today is unrecognizable from that of the 1970s. Not least it has become a democracy, albeit a not perfect one.

USA and Canada2016-03-282023-07-10

A Belated Rapprochement with Cuba

Viewpoint by Somar Wijayadasa*

NEW YORK (IDN) – On March 20, 2016, President Barack Obama became the first sitting United States President to visit Cuba since Calvin Coolidge visited the island in 1928, marking a historic moment in the diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Referring to a fragment of one of the best known “Simple Verses” of Cuba’s national hero José Martí, “I Have A White Rose To Tend”, Obama said: “I’ve come to Havana to extend the hand of friendship to the Cuban people. I’m here to bury the last vestige of the Cold War in the Americas and to forge a new era of understanding to help improve the daily lives of the Cuban people.”

Obama came to office in 2009 promising to review the U.S. policy on Cuba but made only a few modest changes on travel restrictions and allow remittances under certain conditions – because the U.S- Congress refuses to rescind the trade embargo on Cuba.

UN INSIDER2016-03-272023-07-10

Renewable Energy Investments Rising but ‘Not Quickly Enough’

By Jaya Ramachandran

FRANKFURT | NAIROBI (IDN) – Impressive strides were made on renewable energy investments amounting to $266 billion in 2015 – more than double the estimated $130 billion invested in coal and gas power stations, according to a new United Nations backed report. But UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has issued a cautious note.

In his foreword to the report titled Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2016, Ban said: “In spite of these positive findings, to keep global temperature rise well below 2 degrees and aim for 1.5 degrees, we must immediately shift away from fossil fuels. Sustainable, renewable energy is growing, but not quickly enough to meet expected energy demand.”

Ban added: “For power sector development to be consistent with the goal of zero net greenhouse gas emissions in the second half of the century, it will be necessary to reduce or leave idle fossil-fuel power plant capacity, unless carbon capture technologies become widely available and are rapidly and fully utilised.”

GLOBAL ISSUES2016-03-272023-07-10

Renewable Energy Investments Rising but ‘Not Quickly Enough’

By Jaya Ramachandran | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis

UN INSIDER2016-03-262023-07-10

UN Official Urges Israel and Palestine to Negotiate a Two-State Solution

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – The United Nations envoy for the peace process in the Middle East has questioned the political will of both Israel and Palestine to address the main challenges blocking peace efforts.

today warned the Security Council that the prospects for an independent Palestinian state are disappearing, and questioned

The UN Secretary-General’s Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, has made an impassioned plea for both Israel and Palestine to “actively take steps that would demonstrate their commitment to, and create the conditions for, an eventual return to negotiations so as to achieve a viable Palestinian State and ensure Israel’s long-term security”.

The international community must send a clear message to both Israel and Palestine that a two-State solution is the best road to peace, Mladenov, told the Security Council on March 24. He was reacting to the current bloody wave of escalating violence, including stabbings and shootings in Israel and the occupied West Bank.

GLOBAL ISSUES2016-03-262023-07-10

UN Official Urges Israel and Palestine to Negotiate a Two-State Solution

By J Nastranis | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis

today warned the Security Council that the prospects for an independent Palestinian state are disappearing, and questioned

UN INSIDER2016-03-262023-07-10

U.S.-Kazakhstan Cooperation on Nuclear Security and Nonproliferation

By J C Suresh

TORONTO (IDN) – The Nuclear Security Summit in Washington DC on March 31-April 1, to be joined by 50 world leaders, is the fourth under the leadership of President Barack Obama who stated in his speech in Prague in 2009 that nuclear terrorism is the most immediate and extreme threat to global security.

Obama announced an international effort to secure vulnerable nuclear materials, break up black markets, and detect and intercept illicitly trafficked materials. The first Nuclear Security Summit was held in Washington, DC in 2010, and was followed by Summits in Seoul in 2012 and The Hague in 2014.

The Summit will take place against the perturbing backdrop of the murder of a security guard who worked at a Belgian nuclear plant. That the terrorists who perpetrated bomb attacks at Brussels airport and on a crammed metro, slaying and injuring people on March 22, killed the guard and stole his pass two days later, has fuelled fears that they might be seeking to get hold of nuclear material or planning to attack a nuclear site.

GLOBAL ISSUES2016-03-262023-07-10

U.S.-Kazakhstan Cooperation on Nuclear Security and Nonproliferation:

By J C Suresh | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis

UN INSIDER2016-03-252023-07-10

UNESCO Promotes Journalists’ Safety and Coverage of Refugees

By Guy Berger, Director, IPDC Division of Freedom of Expression and Media Development.

PARIS (IDN) – Media development matters moved ahead at the 60th anniversary meeting of the Bureau of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC).

The two-day (March 17-18) meeting of eight Member States, chaired by the Netherlands, focused attention on contemporary media issues, including the Sustainable Development Goals, security of journalists, gender equality, and the refugee crisis.

An evaluation report about IPDC’s contribution to the safety of journalism, discussed at the meeting, noted: “Never has the UN advanced so much on the issue of journalistic safety in so little time as in recent years.”

Almost $900 000 in funding was allocated to 51 media development projects worldwide, and six other initiatives focused on ending impunity for attacks on journalists.

GLOBAL ISSUES2016-03-252023-07-10

UNESCO Promotes Journalists’ Safety and Coverage of Refugees

By Guy Berger | IDN-InDepthNews Viewpoint

The writer is Director, IPDC Division of Freedom of Expression and Media Development.

PARIS (IDN) – Media development matters moved ahead at the 60th anniversary meeting of the Bureau of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC).