By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, 22 May 2023 (IDN) — When leaders of the Group of 7 (G7) countries met in Hiroshima May 19-21, one of the issues on the agenda was nuclear disarmament. The venue of the summit was symbolically stark because the US atomic bombings in 1945 killed over 226,000 people in the […]
The Right to Life: A Missing Perspective on Nuclear Arms
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, 21 May 2023 (IDN) — The Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy (LCNP) has made a new submission to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in advance of its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the Russian Federation. Currently, the tentative schedule of the UPR Working Group, with Russia on its agenda, […]
India: PM Modi’s BJP Ousted in Key Karnataka State Elections
By Devinder Kumar NEW DELHI, 17 May 2023 (IDN) — The opposition Indian National Congress (INC), which appeared to have sunk into oblivion, scored a decisive victory in the southern state of Karnataka over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the legislative assembly elections on 10 May. Karnataka is the […]
A 21st Century Freeze on Nuclear Weapons: Will it be a Reality?
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, 13 May 2023 (IDN) — US Senator Edward Markey (Democrat from Massachusetts) announced plans on May 4 to re-introduce legislation that would establish a 21st century freeze on the testing, production, and deployment of nuclear weapons. A former US army reservist and co-president of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament […]
US Offers Another $1.2 Billion in Arms to Ukraine
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS,12 May 2023 (IDN) — The United States, which has maintained uninterrupted supplies of arms to Ukraine, announced on May 9 the delivery of another package amounting to a hefty $1.2 billion. The new package provided under a Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) is aimed at bolstering Ukraine’s air defenses and […]
Should We Fear Nuclear Submarine Proliferation?
Evil is in the eye of the beholder By Leonam dos Santos Guimarães Capt. (ret.) Brazilian Navy* RIO DE JANEIRO, 11 May 2023 (IDN) — The potential cause-effect relationship between nuclear attack submarine development and nuclear weapons production by Non-Proliferation Treaty/nonnuclear-weapons states is a subject that has been scarcely discussed in unclassified sources until the […]
Arab States Discuss Developments in Nuclear Disarmament
By Bernhard Schell CAIRO, 10 May 2023 (IDN) — Recent developments in the field of disarmament and non-proliferation, with a focus on the Middle East region, has been the centerpiece of a diplomatic forum in Qatar, which has been joined by high-level officials representing 20 Arab League. One topic of discussion was the landmark Treaty […]
A New Message Rings Out at Royal Coronation: “Not My King!”
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK, 8 May 2023 (IDN) — Along streets packed with Londoners, visitors from around the world, and members of the royal class, the coronation of Charles and Camilla was a sumptuous display of pageantry, trumpet fanfare, and gun salutes. A glittering gold stagecoach built in 1760 was on […]
Indian State Elections: Ruling BJP Vows to Eradicate Manual Scavenging
Special IDN SDG News Feature* BENGALURU, India, 3 May 2023 (IDN) — India’s southern state of Karnataka is due to go to the polls on May 10, and sustainable development goals (SDG) issues such as sanitation, food security and free nutrition for the poor, free housing sites for the homeless and free cooking gas cylinders […]
Sri Lanka — The Status Quo Resumes?
By Charles Seevali Abeysekera BROMLEY, UK, 3 May 2023 (IDN) — Fast forward the clock nine months and the country appears to have got through the worst with funds being provided by friendly donor countries and more recently by the IMF. A semblance of normality has returned or so it appears on the surface.