By Jeff Cohen and Norman Solomon* SAN FRANCISCO | 11 January 2024 (IDN) — An avalanche of polling shows Joe Biden with abysmal approval ratings and grim re-election prospects, but Democratic leaders keep spinning away in dreamland. Even before the Israeli war on Gaza began three months ago, party loyalists were in denial about Biden’s unpopularity with key Democratic-leaning constituencies. […]
New Bangladesh Govt. May Face Oxymoronic Hegemon from the US and UK
By Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury* DHAKA | 11 January 2024 (IDN) — Although the 7 January 2024 general election in Bangladesh has been free, fair, and peaceful, which has already been applauded by foreign and local election observers and media, policymakers at the US Department of State are not willing to admit this fact. Instead, […]
Gaza War: Most Congress Members Have Been Moral Failures
By Norman Solomon* SAN FRANCISCO | 10 January 2024 (IDN) — The vast majority of Congress members have refused to call for a ceasefire in Gaza during three months of slaughter by Israel’s military. Capitol Hill remains a friendly place for the Israeli government, as it keeps receiving massive arms shipments courtesy of US taxpayers. […]
Journalists Need To ‘Take A Stand’ Over The Gaza Carnage
By David Robie* AUCKLAND, New Zealand | 10 January 2024 (IDN) — Reporting Israel’s war on Gaza has become the greatest credibility challenge for journalists and the media in our time. The latest assassination of an Al Jazeera photojournalist while documenting atrocities has prompted a leading analyst to appeal to global journalists to “take a […]
Taiwan: The Impact of Developing US-China Rivalry
By Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden | 10 January 2024 (IDN) — Is what you see what you’ll get? President Xi Jinping of China is poking the US in the eye again. China, he suggests, is all set to wrest Taiwan back into the “China fold”. Xi appears far more determined than his predecessors to try […]
The UN Costs 1.25 US Dollar to Each Inhabitant of the Planet Earth
When you add up the regular UN Secretariat and peacekeeping budgets, the annual average cost of the UN for each person on the planet is about $1.25; that’s about the cost of a bag of chips in New York. — UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq. UNITED NATIONS | 7 January 2024 (IDN | UN News) […]
The Problem of Refugee Camps in the Middle East and North Africa
By Saurav Sarkar* This article was produced by Globetrotter. NEW YORK | 5 January 2024 (IDN) — In 2024, 12 percent of “forcibly displaced and stateless people” are expected to be from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, said the United Nations. This displacement will be caused due to war, humanitarian crises, and […]
Migrants Can Be Climate Action Champions
By Shoko Noda The writer is the UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Crisis Bureau Director. NEW YORK | 4 January 2024 (IDN) — When we think of migration in the context of climate change, it is most often in relation to the thousands, or even millions, of people displaced by extreme weather. The numbers, while […]
COP28 – Massive Disappointments, Slight Glimmers of Hope
By Volker Boege* Toda Peace Institute issued this article, and it is being republished with their permission. BRISBANE, Australia | 4 January 2024 (IDN) — At the closing plenary of COP28, Anne Rasmussen from Samoa, the lead negotiator for the Alliance of Small Islands States (AOSIS), expressed her disappointment about the conference’s outcome in no […]
In Pursuit of Eliminating Hamas, Israel Might Bring Forth Something Worse
By Azu Ishiekwene The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria. ABUJA | 3 January 2023 (IDN) — After futile attempts by others to get the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate allegations of genocide against the parties in the war in Gaza, South Africa raised the […]