By J Nastranis NEW YORK | 20 December 2023 (IDN) — A lack of progress in resolving human rights issues is a key reason behind the current impasse between Afghanistan and the international community, the UN Special Representative to Afghanistan told the Security Council on 20 December. Ms. Roza Otunbayeva, who heads the UN Assistance […]
New South-South Health Cooperation Initiative Launched Linking Africa and the Caribbean
By WHO Joint Press Release BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS, GENEVA | 19 December 2023 (IDN) — The Health Development Partnership for Africa and the Caribbean (HeDPAC), a new initiative to strengthen South-South health cooperation between Africa and the Caribbean, was launched today. The initiative stems from the recognition that the burden of the COVID-19 pandemic fell most […]
The Relevance of Biblical Egypt’s Climate Actions to Current Emergencies
By Yossef Ben-Meir * This article presents the interesting consistency among Biblical Egypt’s actions (described in the Midrash) to avoid climate disaster, Islamic principles of social justice, and viable approaches societies should take today to avert our own environmental crisis. MARRAKECH | 19 December 2023 (IDN) — The actions Egypt took in its survival to […]
U.K. Plans Deportations to Rwanda – In Violation of British Law
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 18 December 2023 (IDN) — While UK officials debate the wisdom of sending immigrants seeking asylum to Rwanda, they do so despite a decision rendered last month by the British Supreme Court finding the scheme unlawful because Rwanda is not a safe third country and migrants […]
Sheikh Hasina Has Steered Bangladesh Through Formidable Challenges
By Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury DHAKA | 17 December 2023 (IDN) — Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina emerges as a beacon of fortitude, foresight, and resolute determination in the intricate tapestry of global leadership. Her tenure as the longest-serving female Prime Minister in any Muslim nation embodies her endurance and profound impact on Bangladesh’s transformation […]
The Suicidal Fallout of a Nuclear Attack in the Middle East
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS | 16 December 2023 (IDN) — When a junior minister proposed dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza as “one way of dealing with the threat of Hamas”, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instantly shot down the proposal and took the unusual step of suspending the politically far-right minister. Netanyahu’s swift […]
Iran Deal Off the Table as Nuclear Tensions Rise
By Kelsey Davenport The writer is the director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association (ACA). This article first appeared in ‘Arms Control Now’ of the ACA and is being reproduced with their permission. WASHINGTON, D.C. | 14 December 2023 (IDN) — A top U.S. official said that restoring the 2015 nuclear deal with […]
COP28: Little to Celebrate, More to Lament
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS | 13 December 2023 (IDN) — When the much-ballyhooed climate change “conference of parties” —COP28—concluded on December 12 in the bustling Emirati city of Dubai, it reflected an old Greek proverb: the mountain that laboured to produce a mouse. The London-based Nafkote Dabi, Climate Change Policy Lead at Oxfam International, […]
Exposing the Emerging Orientalist Narrative of Peace and Security for Afghanistan — Part II
By Bashir Mobasher and Zakira Rasooli* Toda Peace Institute issued this article, which is being republished with their permission. INDIANA, USA | DOHAN, Qatar | 12 December 2023 (IDN) — Edward Said defines Orientalism as a series of representations of the ‘East,’ in the form of ‘knowledge’ (and beyond), which does not reflect the intrinsic […]
Exposing the Emerging Orientalist Narrative of Peace and Security for Afghanistan — Part I
By Bashir Mobasher and Zakira Rasooli* Toda Peace Institute issued this article, which is being republished with their permission. INDIANA, USA | DOHAN, Qatar | 11 December 2023 (IDN) — In July 2023, Tobias Ellwood, a UK parliamentarian and former Government Minister in the Ministry of Defense, released a video of himself stating that “security […]