By Kristalina Georgieva and Ajay Banga Following are excerpts from the Joint Statement issued by Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank, on 7 September 2023. WASHINGTON, DC. 8 September 2023 (IDN) — The world confronts significant economic challenges, the existential threat of climate […]
Ukrainian Refugees—Mostly Women—Reluctant to Return Home
Ukrainian Refugees—Mostly Women—Reluctant to Return Home By Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury* DHAKA. 7 September 2023 (IDN) — In the wake of the conflict in Ukraine that erupted on 24 February 2022, millions of Ukrainians sought refuge in various countries across Europe and beyond. A unique feature of this refugee flow, however, is its striking gender […]
Establishment of a U.S.-ASEAN Center in Washington, D.C.
JAKARTA. 6 September 2023 (IDN) — At the U.S.-ASEAN Summit in Indonesia on September 6, US Vice President Harris joined with the leaders of ASEAN in announcing their intent to establish, through a public-private partnership, a U.S.-ASEAN Center in Washington, D.C. To that end, the State Department has established a public-private partnership with Arizona State […]
Global Heatwave Tells North and South that Climate Change Is Here
Analysis by Kalinga Seneviratne SINGAPORE. 5 September 2023 (IDN) — When heatwaves hit Southeast Asia, India and China in July, breaking temperature records across Asia, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the “global boiling” era has arrived. And it didn’t take long for wildfires fuelled by high temperatures to spread across North America, Hawaii and Europe. […]
China’s Shandong Province Expands Its Footprint to The Pacific
By Kalinga Seneviratne SUVA, Fiji. 2 September 2023 (IDN) — A high-powered delegation of Chinese ocean and marine scientists and Asia-Pacific scholars from Shandong Province visited Fiji promoting South-South cooperation to mitigate climatic change—Pacific Islands’ biggest security threat. Facilitated by the Chinese Embassy here, Shandong Province and Fiji signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to […]
A Wake-Up Call For Kosovo’s Prime Minister Kurti
By Alon Ben-Meir* NEW YORK. 1 September 2023 (IDN) — Prime Minister Kurti was elected on the premise that he would attend to Kosovo’s socio-economic malaise, lift its people from the ashes of the war, give them hope, and restore their dignity. Sadly, more than two years later, Kurti has little to show for his […]
Backers of Endless War Deplore That Many Trump Supporters Favor Use of Violence
By Norman Solomon* SAN FRANCISCO. 31 August 2023 (IDN) — Ever since Donald Trump became a former president, news outlets and commentators have cited polls showing that many Republicans believe violence might be needed to save the country. As Trump’s legal woes increase, so do mainstream media alarms about the specter of violent responses. But […]
Afghanistan: Taliban Must Earn Legitimacy through Diplomacy
By Latheef Farook* COLOMBO. 30 August 2023 (IDN) — After more than four decades of foreign occupation, death and destruction, the landlocked mountainous country of Afghanistan, bordering Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to the north, Iran to the West, Pakistan to the east and south, liberated itself from United States occupation two years ago in August […]
The Earth-shattering “I Have a Dream” and Its Impact
By Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden. 28 August 2023 (IDN) — Sixty years ago, Martin Luther King made his earth-shattering “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. Is there anybody who watches and listens to it on YouTube not moved to the soles of their shoes? I’ve heard […]
Saudi Arabia’s Military & Nuclear Demands Maybe Undermined by US Congress
By Tariq Rauf* VIENNA. 25 August 2023 (IDN) — The Biden administration has characterized securing the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel as a national security matter and is actively working to achieve its goal. US domestic politics is driving the Biden policy that sees Saudi-Israel normalization as a “foreign policy win” for […]