Nuclear-Test-Ban Debate Focuses on Iran and North Korea

VIENNA (IDN) – Iran and North Korea dominated the landmark symposium ‘Science and Diplomacy for Peace and Security’ organised by the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) end of January in Vienna, the capital of Austria.

As chance would have it, ahead of the event, on January 16, 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, announced the lifting of EU economic blockade against Tehran.

‘Doomsday Clock’ Shows 3 Minutes to Midnight

SYDNEY – At the most recent annual Doomsday Clock press-conference, held in Washington, the Nobel-prize-winner-heavy advisers of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, itself founded by Einstein and Oppenhiemer in the 1940s, revealed that it had been decided to keep the hands of its iconic and symbolic ‘Doomsday Clock’ at three minutes to midnight. This is bad news for civilisation and humans as a species.

Banning The Bomb With Science and Diplomacy

BERLIN | VIENNA (IDN) – The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) is organising a symposium on the role of science and diplomacy for peace and security as the first in a series of events this year to push for entry into force of a law prohibiting atomic explosions by everyone and everywhere.

The ‘Science & Diplomacy for Peace & Security’ conference is being convened from January 25 to February 4 at the Vienna International Centre, the UN headquarters in the Austrian capital, in a year that marks the 20th anniversary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).

India Shares South-South Cooperation Experience with the ACP Group

BRUSSELS (INPS | ACP) – Representatives of African, Caribbean and Pacific countries in Brussels joined a stimulating discussion on South-South cooperation, during a special presentation by one of India’s leading experts on the issue, at ACP House on January 13.

Director General of the New Delhi-based think-tank, Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), Professor Sachin Chaturvedi presented his new book titled The Logic of Sharing: Indian Approach to South-South Cooperation.

Doha Can Survive A Severe Blow If Developing Nations Unite

GENEVA (IDN | TWN) – When the WTO’s Nairobi Ministerial Conference (MC10) ended on December 19, WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo and Kenya Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed were beaming that they had pulled off a coup of sorts in a successful Conference, with a Declaration and decisions – with the U.S. and the EU, acclaiming both of them.

Developing Countries ‘Bite the Bullet’ in Nairobi

NAIROBI (IDN) – If India and other developing countries, including the 79-nation African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of states had insisted that the World Trade Organization (WTO) Conference – the first on African soil – must reaffirm the focus on development and the ‘Doha Development Agenda’ (DDA), it would have concluded without an outcome document.

However, despite disappointment and strong reservations expressed by India and by representatives of the ACP Group, the conference endorsed the Nairobi Ministerial Declaration (NMD).

IMF Does Not Trigger ‘Bread Riots’ But Sticks to Old Policies

BERLIN (IDN) – Hundreds of thousands of poor people joined spontaneous “bread riots” in most major cities in Egypt back in 1977, protesting termination of state subsidies as dictated to the country’s government by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Those uprisings, which were crushed by the army, underlined the callousness with which the two organizations enforced their aggressive policies of liberalization, turning a blind eye to the sufferings of the people.

First Ever UN Security Council Resolution on Youth, Peace and Security

NEW YORK (IDN) – The United Nations Security Council has adopted a resolution on youth, peace and security, which for the first time in its history focuses entirely on the role of young men and women in peace-building and countering violent extremism.

The resolution, sponsored by Jordan, embodies an unprecedented acknowledgment of the urgent need to engage young peace-builders in promoting peace and frustrating extremism. Adopted on December 9, 2015 it also regards the youth and youth-led organizations as important partners in the global efforts to thwart violent extremism and promote lasting peace.

Developing Nations Need Hundreds of Billions To Address Climate Change

PARIS (IDN) – Warming of the climate system is unequivocal. Concentrations of greenhouse gases have increased and as a result the atmosphere and ocean have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have diminished, sea level has risen, and the impacts are being felt in particular by developing countries. According to the latest science, the emissions gap with respect to the 2 degree or 1.5 degree goal is not closing.

79-Nation ACP Group Set to Become a Global Player

Fiji Prime Minister
Voreqe Bainimarama
Lesotho Finance Minister
Dr. ‘Mamphono Khaketla
ACP Secretary General
Dr Patrick I. Gomes


BERLIN | BRUSSELS (IDN) – The 79-nation group of Afrian, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries is determined to become a global player within and outside the United Nations system and at the same time bring the Brussels-based Secretariat closer to the seven ACP regions by participating in regional summits, on-going discussions within the group reveal.

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