By Jaya Ramachandran | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis
VIENNA (IDN) – Political will and multilateral diplomacy marked a milestone as U.S. President Barack Obama revoked a 20-year system of sanctions against Iran and Federica Mogherini, the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and a Council member of the Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (PNND), announced the lifting of EU economic blockade against Tehran on January 16.
VIENNA (IDN) – Political will and multilateral diplomacy marked a milestone as U.S. President Barack Obama revoked a 20-year system of sanctions against Iran and Federica Mogherini, the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and a Council member of the Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (PNND), announced the lifting of EU economic blockade against Tehran on January 16.
HONKONG (INPS | Pressenza) – Taiwan News reporting on Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen’s landslide win says the good lady promises reforms, general cooperation and an aim to establish stability after she was elected Taiwan’s first woman president on January 16.
Tsia got the highest percentage of the vote any candidate has ever had since such direct presidential elections were first held in 1966.
Also, at the same time, she can also look forward to the first-ever absolute majority the DPP has ever held in the 113-seat Legislative Yuan – parliament. At this juncture it seems the DPP could hold a total of 68 seats.
By Kalinga Seneviratne* | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis
SINGAPORE (IDN) – Chinese President Xi Jingping officially launched on January 16 the much anticipated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) describing it as a “historic moment” while his Finance Minister Lou Jiwei said in an interview that the launch of AIIB marked a milestone in the reform of the global economic governance system.
The $100 billion China-initiated bank took just two years to set up after it was initially proposed by President Xi during his visits to Southeast Asian countries in October 2013. In October 2014, representatives from 22 countries, mainly from Asia and including India, and strong U.S. regional allies – Philippines and Singapore – a signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to establish the AIIB and Beijing was selected to host Bank headquarters.
By Ronald Joshua | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis
ABIDJAN (IDN) – Africa has reason to rejoice at the fact that the flow of foreign tourists to the continent has quadrupled over a period of 15 years between 1990 and 2014. But as the bearer of the good news – a new report – warns, unless the African countries learn to appreciate the economic value of their wildlife and biodiversity, they would be in for trouble.
UNITED NATIONS (INPS) – The UN General Assembly unanimously adopted on December 17 the revised UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (SMRs). This followed a four-year revision process after a 2010 UN General Assembly resolution, which requested revision of the SMRs “so that they reflect recent advances in correctional science and best practices”.
Given that the last stage of negotiations was hosted by the government of South Africa in Cape Town, it was decided that these revised prison standards would be known as the ‘Nelson Mandela Rules’ in order to honour the legacy of the late South African President, in prison himself for 27 years and a committed advocate for the rights of prisoners.
By Bernhard Schell | IDN-InDepthNew Report
DUBAI (IDN) – Government officials from over 150 countries and representatives from the private sector, civil society and international organizations are gathering in Abu Dhabi on January 16-17 for the first time after the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in December to discuss the implications of the historic Paris Agreement.
By Jutta Wolf | IDN-InDepthNews Report
BERLIN (IDN) – Humankind has become a geological force that is able to quash the beginning of the next ice age, a study published in the renowned scientific journal Nature shows. Ice ages have shaped the global environment and thereby determined the development of human civilization.
Cracking the code of glacial inception, scientists of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research found the relation of insolation and CO2 concentration in the atmosphere to be the key criterion to explain the last eight glacial cycles in Earth history.
“The ISIS’ allure is that it is fighting these Arab tyrants across the region, even as it fulfils the longing of its adherents to participate in a cause that is founded on their own history and traditions”
Last year, as he addressed the congregation from the pulpit of the mosque in Mosul, the self-styled caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi invited all Muslims to migrate to the Islamic State “because hijra to the land of Islam is obligatory”. Read in Japanese
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