By Sergio Duarte The writer is President of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs. NEW YORK (IDN) – On July 1, 2018 the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) will celebrate the fiftieth aniversary of its opening for signature. Although criticised as discriminatory for establishing different rights and obligations […]
Nuclear Weapon States’ Long Arm Seen Behind Deferral of Landmark UN Conference
By Alyn Ware The writer is Co-Chair, World Future Council Disarmament Commission. NEW YORK (IDN) – May 14, 2018 was supposed to see the opening at the United Nations of a three-day High-Level Conference on Nuclear Disarmament, scheduled to discuss “effective nuclear disarmament measures to achieve the total elimination of nuclear weapons, including, in particular, […]
Pugwash, UN and ICAN Warn of Ramifications of US Quitting Iran Nuclear Deal
By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) – The announcement by President Donald Trump to abandon the Iran nuclear deal is “a costly mistake that can hold wide-ranging ramifications beyond its strictly nuclear parameters,” the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize winner Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs have warned. The decision undoes many years of constructive […]
Canada Slams U.S. Decision to Quit Iran Nuclear Accord
By Suresh Jaura TORONTO (IDN) – In 2012, Canada abandoned diplomatic ties with Iran and closed its embassy in Tehran. Former Canadian minister of foreign affairs, John Baird, cited Iran’s support for the Assad regime during the Syrian Civil War and non-compliance with United Nations resolutions on its nuclear program, recalls Katie Dangerfield writing in […]
Experts Denounce U.S. Withdrawal From Iran Nuclear Deal
By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) – Experts have deplored President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Iran Nuclear Deal. The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF) called it “a dangerous move” that “will have major international consequences”. Daryl G. Kimball, executive director of the independent Arms Control Association said the decision was […]
Iran Nuclear Deal Withdrawal ‘Misguided’, ‘Serious Mistake’
By Barack Obama The following is the text of former President Barack Obama’s remarks on his successor Donald Trump’s decision on May 8, 2018 to withdraw the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal. The original appeared on Obama’s Facebook https://www.facebook.com/barackobama/posts/10155854913976749 – The Editor WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN-INPS) – There are few issues more important to the […]
Kazakhstan Sets the Ball Rolling for the Landmark Interfaith Congress in Astana
By J Nastranis UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – “The holy scriptures of the Koran, Bible, Torah, the Bhagwad Geeta or the Lotus Sutra” underline “the vital importance to unite the efforts of political and religious leaders for the cause of security and stability across our planet,” said Kazakhstan’s Vice-Minister for Religious Affairs and Civil Society, Berik […]
Faith Communities Urge Geneva Conference to Pave the Path to a Nuclear-Weapons-Free World
By Jamshed Baruah GENEVA (IDN) – Diverse faith-based organizations and individuals are appealing to States gathered at the UN in Geneva to spare the world a nuclear catastrophe and foster sustainable development for the good of humanity affirming moral and ethical imperatives. Twenty groups and individuals from different faiths, including Christian, Quaker, Muslim and Hindu […]
US Launches Minuteman III Missile Test in Cloud of Secrecy
NEW YORK (IDN) – With little prior notice from military officials, the U.S. launched a Minuteman III Ballistic Missile on April 25 morning at approximately 5:26 a.m. from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Civilians and residents living near the base, who regularly receive ample notice of missile tests, were left in the dark this time as […]
State of Emergency for Press Freedom in Europe
By ECPMF BERLIN (IDN) – The European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) in Leipzig, Germany, is warning against the dismantlement of freedom rights and the increasing threat against journalists in the EU. “Demagogues and autocrats are fighting the free press because they cannot stand democratic control. Under a corrupt administration the work of an […]