By Jean-Paul Murunga and Sylvia Obaga* NAIROBI Kenya | 12 April 2025 (IDN) — Nationwide outrage and public protests have erupted in South Africa after a mother began speaking out about the rape of her 7-year-old daughter, Cwecwe*. Frustration and anger over a lack of progress in the police investigation six months after initially reporting […]
NATO’s Forgotten Promise to Gorbachev
Breaking a Promise to Russia By Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden | 1 April 2025 (IDN) — History and events have not been kind to Russia. Napoleon’s invasion, revolution, two world wars, Hitler’s invasion, Stalin’s communism, and, most recently, the expansion of Nato, have shattered the Russian people’s equilibrium and self-regard time and time again. At […]
Sewing Sustainability: The High Atlas Foundation’s Zero-Waste Initiative
By Bryn Galumbeck* MARRAKECH, Morocco | 1 April 2025 (IDN) — On 30 March, which marked the third annual International Day of Zero Waste, the international community recognized the urgent need to transform waste management and promote sustainable consumption and production. This year’s theme, Towards Zero Waste in Fashion and Textiles, highlights the pressing environmental […]
The Disability Sector Needs Bigger Voices
By Simone Galimberti* KATHMANDU, Nepal | 30 March 2025 (IDN) — If there is a realm that struggles to get attention and is always at risk of being left out of the most important conversations at the international level, it is disability. And yet, undeterred and determined to create lasting change, thousands of disabilities, experts, […]
The US, NATO, and Ukraine: The Politics of Strategic Flexibility
By Kartik Bommakanti* NEW DELHI | 30 March 2025 (IDN) — Washington’s decision to broker an end to the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war has caused heartburn and backlash from its European allies and Kyiv. The desire for strategic flexibility, which is as much a function of power as it is of agency, explains in part why […]
An Ocean of Gold but No Water to Drink
By Sefa Ikpa* LAGOS, Nigeria | 25 March 2025 (IDN) — Privatisation was once heralded as the key to Africa’s economic revitalisation, a promise that essential services would become more efficient, widely available and cost-effective under private ownership. Several decades later, the reality looks very different. Across the continent, the privatisation of electricity and water […]
Australia: How Nuclear Is Already Costing Us
By Ken Baldwin* CANBERRA, Australia | 24 March 2025 (IDN) — Taxpayers have already paid a price for the political division over Australia’s energy future — and now the Coalition’s nuclear policy is effectively hitting their hip pocket even before voters get their say on whether it’s part of the nation’s energy transition. All Australians […]
France Can’t Deploy New Air-Launched Nuclear-Tipped Missiles Before 2035
By Drago Bosnic The writer is an independent geopolitical and military analyst. This article was first published in InfoBRICS. LJUBLJANA, Slovenia | 21 March 2025 (IDN) — Earlier this month, French President Emmanuel Macron proposed his country take over America’s role as the “nuclear protector” of the “old continent”. The French nuclear umbrella would encompass the […]
Bhutan’s Growing Migration Wave Demands Better Planning
By Namdu Lhamo, Jelle J P Wouters, Binaya Pasakhala* THIMPU, Bhutan | 20 March 2025 (IDN) — Sonam and Pema migrated a decade ago from eastern Bhutan to the south-west Pasakha Industrial Estate, located on the border with India. The married couple were farmers, but Bhutan’s climate change impacts and interwoven rural crises, including escalating human-wildlife […]
Global Trade in Flux: Navigating Policy Volatility and Structural Shifts
BY UN DESA NEW YORK | 20 March 2025 (IDN) — International trade is once again in the spotlight. A new Monthly Briefing from UN DESA examines the evolving dynamics, offering insights into both the risks and potential opportunities ahead. Structural shifts in global trade Global trade is undergoing profound changes, with globalization evolving along […]