GLOBAL ISSUES – Page 215 – IDN-InDepthNews

ARMAMENTS2012-10-052023-07-10

Group of 10 Pleads for a Nuke-Free World

By J C Suresh
IDN-InDepth NewsReport

TORONTO (IDN) – A group of non-nuclear weapon states has expressed its resolve to move ahead with practical steps to advance the implementation of the 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference Action Plan (‘Action Plan’) and to pursue the goal of a nuke-free world.

At a meeting in New York on September 26, 2012 on the margins of the UN General Assembly, the foreign ministers of Australia, Canada, Chile, Germany, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates reaffirmed their “commitment to contribute to the realisation of a robust regime across the three pillars of the NPT”. As agreed at the meeting in Istanbul in June, they identified future prospects.

Climate Change2012-10-042023-07-10

Global Climate Talks at a Critical Juncture

By Martin Khor*
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

GENEVA (IDN) – The latest round of weeklong UNFCCC climate negotiations in Bangkok in September has revealed a major problem. The Bali Road Map launched in December 2007 had two tracks. The Kyoto Protocol track seems to be ending in a very weakened outcome, while the Bali Action Plan track is in danger of being killed without a proper closure or a transfer of its unsettled issues.

ARMAMENTS2012-10-022023-07-10

Snail’s Pace Towards Ban on Nuke Testing

By Jamshed Baruah
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalyis

VIENNA (IDN) – Since the then Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru called for a “standstill agreement” on nuclear testing on April 2, 1954, 183 out of 196 states around the world have signed the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) that bans atomic explosions by everyone, everywhere: on the Earth’s surface, in the atmosphere, underwater and underground.

157 countries including three of the nuclear weapon States – France, Russia and Britain – have ratified the treaty. But before the CTBT can enter into force, 44 specific nuclear technology holder countries must sign and ratify it. Of these, eight are still missing: China, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan and the USA. In fact, India, North Korea and Pakistan have yet to sign the treaty.

GLOBAL ISSUES2012-09-282023-07-10

Human Trafficking Devastating the Sinai

By Mirjam van Reisen*
IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint

BRUSSELS (IDN) – A new report titled ‘Human Trafficking in the Sinai. Refugees between Life and Death’ sheds new light on the devastation caused by the trafficking in the Sinai. Hostages are killed unless they collect exorbitant ransoms from relatives, which can go up to USD 35,000 or even more. These ransoms are collected from family members in home countries and from relatives in the diaspora.

A network of financial laundering supports the ransom collection. The report is authored by this writer, Meron Estefanos and Dr Conny Rijken, from Tilburg University and European External Policy Advisors (EEPA).

GLOBAL ISSUES2012-09-242023-07-10

The Bahamian Art of Survival

By Roberto Savio*
IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint

NASSAU, Bahamas (IDN) – Mark Twain famously said: “The rich are different from you and me.” While the present behaviour of the financial elites is clearly proving Twain’s prescience, I think that had he spent some time in the Bahamas, he would have postulated: “Bahamians are different from you and me”.

Of course, this applies to every culture. In many parts of the United States, you cannot smoke in parks or on beaches, but you can carry a concealed semi-automatic weapon.

USA and Canada2012-09-222023-07-12

US Election: Ann Romney Berates Husband’s Republican Critics

By Ernest Corea*
IDN –InDepth NewsAnalysis

WASHINGTON (IDN) – “Stop it.” That was Ann Romney’s peremptory order to her husband’s Republican Party critics, when she was recently interviewed by Radio Iowa. The wife of presidential candidate Mitt Romney came across like a highly strung nanny ticking off a rumbustious bunch of rich kids at a summer picnic.

In fairness to Mrs. Romney, however, her lack of experience has obviously moved her towards breaking point as she surveys the fallout from the bombshell that current affairs magazine Mother Jones dropped on the Romney campaign.

USA and Canada2012-09-152023-07-12

Cultural Starwars at Toronto Film Festival

By Erich Walberg*
IDN-InDepth NewsReport

The ’empire’ requires a nice juicy enemy to keep people’s minds off its own sins. This year’s Toronto International Film Festival highlights the new direction in filmmaking: Iran is the enemy du jour, but at the same time it is no longer kosher to praise everything Israel does.

GLOBAL ISSUES2012-09-152023-07-10

Behind Canada Severing Ties with Iran

By Eric Walberg*
IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint

TORONTO (IDN) – Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird announced on September 7 that Canada is suspending all diplomatic relations with Iran, expelling all Iranian diplomats, closing its embassy in Tehran, and authorizing Turkey to act on Canada’s behalf for consular services there. Baird cited Iran’s enmity with Israel, its support of Syria and terrorism.

Climate Change2012-09-132023-07-10

Climate Change Severely Impacting Food Prices

By Jaya Ramachandran
IDN-InDepth NewsReport

BERLIN (IDN) – While there are hardly any signs of substantive and forward-looking agreements being reached at the United Nations climate change conference from November 26 to December 7, 2012 in Doha, latest research cautions that impact of climate change on future food prices is being underestimated.

ECONOMY2012-09-122023-07-10

‘South’ Not an Alternative Engine of Global Growth

By Martin Khor *
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

The Eurozone crisis and the slowdown of the U.S. economy is impacting China, India and major countries in South America and Africa. They are increasingly faced with deterioration in GDP growth and exports. The forecast of a “staggering rise of the South” is turning out to be a myth.

GENEVA (IDN) – Developing countries are increasingly being adversely affected by the economic recession in Europe and the slowdown in the United States. The hope that major emerging economies like China, India and Brazil would continue to have robust growth, de-coupling from Western economies and becoming an alternative engine of global growth has been dashed by recent data showing that they are themselves weakening.