GLOBAL ISSUES – Page 165 – IDN-InDepthNews

GLOBAL ISSUES2016-02-092023-07-10

Dutch Court Examines Alleged Eritrean Surveillance & Intimidation

By Reinhardt Jacobsen | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis

AMSTERDAM (IDN) – The reach of an allegedly long arm of the Eritrean regime abroad has been the subject of a series of high profile articles in the media. Latest reports say that it is not only targeting Eritrean refugees but also Dutch citizens.

At the core of the debate is a series of articles by OneWorld journalist Sanne Terlingen who revealed that members suspected to have links to the Eritrean regime were serving as interpreters in asylum cases. Two siblings of the chair of the YPFDJ, the youth wing of the only party of Eritrea, were still employed by the interpretation service, even though the rules of the Dutch government agency would not allow this.

GLOBAL ISSUES2016-02-062023-07-10

U.S. and China: A Tale of Contradictions

By Jennifer Sun* | IDN-InDepthNews Essay

“America’s once shining beacon has somehow dimmed a bit, and the Red China I left 30 years ago is not as bloody red as it used to be. The two countries, capitalist and communist, actually have a lot in common: the rich and powerful could be greedy, hypocritical and morally corrupt,” writes Jennifer Sun, author of the recently published novel ‘Two Tales of the Moon’.

GLOBAL ISSUES2016-02-062023-07-10

Migrant Workers Help Singapore Students Gain a Global Perspective

By Kalinga Senevratne* | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis

SINGAPORE (IDN) – Government statistics show that in this affluent Southeast Asian nation, one in three workers are migrants. They build the modern infrastructure, clean the buildings, cook and serve in restaurants, look after the children and elderly at home, while often being paid very poorly and treated shabbily and looked at suspiciously by the locals.

Beginning with the 2013 Little India riots where hundreds of Indian workers attacked police vehicles to the recent arrest of 27 Bangladeshi workers suspected of having links to Islamic terrorist groups, there has been much tension in the community with regards to migrant workers. As one law student put it: “We only find out about migrant workers through second hand sources which does not really say who they are.”

GLOBAL ISSUES2016-02-052023-07-10

EU Joins African Union to Honour Two African Scientists

By Ronald Joshua | IDN-InDepthNews Report

ADDIS ABABA (IDN) – The African Union Commission (AUC) has bestowed two distinguished African Scientists with the prestigious Kwame Nkrumah Continental Scientific Awards 2015, sponsored by the European Union since 2009 as a sign of recognition for top African scientists at national, regional and continental levels.

The award is named after Ghanaian nationalist leader and a pan-African who led the Gold Coast’s drive for independence from Britain and presided over its emergence as the new nation of Ghana. He headed the country from independence in 1957 until he was overthrown by a coup in 1966. An influential 20th-century advocate of Pan-Africanism, he was a founding member of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), predecessor of today’s AU.

GLOBAL ISSUES2016-02-052023-07-10

ACP Symposium to Focus on Empowering Women and Youth

By Jaya Ramachandran | IDN-InDepthNews Report

BERLIN | BRUSSELS (IDN) – The 79-nation ACP Group’s secretariat is joining hands with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the UN to focus on South-South and Triangular Cooperation to achieve development goals that were adopted by the international community in September 2015 in Agenda 2030.

One such critical goal is rural development that reinforces women and youth empowerment by way of creating jobs and encouraging entrepreneurship. With this in view, the African, Caribbean and Pacific group’s secretariat is organising a symposium in Brussels on February 11-12, under the theme: Integrated Rural Development: Strengthening Women and Youth Empowerment through Jobs and Entrepreneurship.

GLOBAL ISSUES2016-02-032023-07-10

Buddhist Revival in China Fuels Animal Welfare Movement

By Kalinga Seneviratne*

This article is the first in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Feature and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate.

SINGAPORE (IDN | Lotus News Features) – A Buddhist revival in China is fuelling a growing animal welfare movement across the country with the Chinese government poised to revise the decades-old animal welfare act. In January, the National People’s Congress (NPC) started soliciting public comments on four draft laws. One is the revision of the Wildlife Protection Law, which came into effect in 1989.

ARMAMENTS2016-02-012023-07-10

Japan and Kazakhstan Campaign for Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty

By Ramesh Jaura | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis

VIENNA | TOKYO (IDN) – As the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) prepares to convene a ministerial meeting in June, Kazakhstan and Japan have reaffirmed their commitment to intensify their efforts toward entry into force of the Treaty.

During the first week of the symposium ‘Science and Diplomacy for Peace and Security’ from January 25 to February 4, representatives of the two countries in Vienna assured that they would set forth their efforts initiated by their respective foreign ministers in September 2015 at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

ARMAMENTS2016-01-312023-07-10

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

By Ramesh Jaura | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis

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.

ARMAMENTS2016-01-252023-07-10

Kazakh Efforts Lead to a UN Declaration on a Nuke Free World

By J Nastranis | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis

NEW YORK (IDN) – The Central Asian Republic of Kazakhstan is widely acknowledged as an unrelenting champion of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. The country’s latest accomplishment is the resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly along with the Universal Declaration on the Achievement of a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World.

EU & Europe2016-01-232023-07-10

Oligarchs Turn Moldova into a Cauldron of Corruption

By Alina Inayeh*

BUCHAREST, Romania (IDN | GMF) – History repeats itself, giving us the chance to avoid repeating our mistakes. The Ukrainian story should have taught us a lot about the short-sightedness of supporting a bad government for geopolitical reasons.

Now, as protests against Moldova’s newly formed government are drawing many thousands, is the moment for political leaders in Europe and the United States to take a deep breath and recall this lesson before showing their support to the Moldovan government, known to be controlled by the country’s most powerful oligarch and with little, if any, credible interest in promoting the reforms Moldova needs.