By Jeffrey D. Sachs Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs testifies to the UN Security Council Session on “Maintenance of International Peace and Security: Sustaining Peace through Common Development” in New York on 20 November. UNITED NATIONS | 21 November 2023 (IDN) — In my testimony I will refer to four (wars): the Ukraine War, which started […]
Liberian President George Weah ‘Knocked Out’ in Close Race
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | MONROVIA | 20 November 2023 (IDN) — “I stand before you tonight with a grateful heart and with the utmost respect for the democratic process that has defined our nation.” With those words, star athlete and Liberian President George Manneh Weah began his concession speech, ending […]
Weakness of Europe’s Soft-power is Shameful — Denial of the Call for a Ceasefire
By P.I. Gomes* PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad & Tobago | 19 November 2023 (IDN) — The Israeli brutal bombardment continues into a second month by an unprecedented violation of international humanitarian law. Some 12,000 persons have been killed, that include more than 4000 babies, infants and children. This slaughter of innocent women and children with […]
African Youths Want More Adaptation Finance as Climate Change Bites
By Ngala Killian Chimtom YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon | 19 November 2023 (IDN) — More than 150 young African leaders have called on the international community to prioritize and increase climate adaptation finance flows to Africa by more than double. The call was made on 18 November, at the end of the Inaugural Forum on Adaptation Finance […]
Humming a New Tune on World Toilet Day
By Professor Lyla Mehta and Dr Alan Nicol* BRIGHTON/LONDON, UK | 18 November 2023 (IDN) — A hummingbird is the symbol of 2023’s World Toilet Day. (19 November). Fabled as a small actor in a huge drama—putting out a fire with tiny droplets of water—the analogy appears to be that every one of us doing […]
Gaza Genocide? UN Chief Says International Court Has to Decide
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS | 17 November 2023 (IDN) — Are the killings of thousands of Palestinian civilians in Gaza an act of genocide or “genocide in the making”? According to a legal definition, genocide includes violent attacks with the specific intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious […]
A Framework for Peace in Israel and Palestine
By Jeffrey D. Sachs* This article was published in Common Dreams and OtherNews and is being republished with the author’s permission. NEW YORK | 17 November 2023 (IDN) — It is urgent to free the hostages in Gaza; stop the bloodshed in Israel and Palestine; establish lasting security for both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples; […]
A Loss and Damage Fund in the Pacific?
By Kate Higgins* Toda Peace Institute issued this article, and it is being republished with their permission. VICTORIA, Australia | 16 November 2023 (IDN) — At last year’s COP27 in Egypt, an agreement was reached to establish a Loss and Damage Fund for countries, such as those in the Pacific, vulnerable to the “adverse effects” […]
Security Council Vote Fails to Call for a Cease-fire in Gaza
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS | 15 November 2023 (IDN) — The 15-member Security Council, described as the most powerful body in the United Nations, has remained paralyzed because of a new “cold war” between the five veto-wielding permanent members. The sharp political division—with China and Russia on one side and the US, UK and […]
PCC at COP28: Advocating for Phasing Out of Fossil Fuels, Funding for Loss and Damage, and Peace
By James Bhagwan* SUVA, Fiji | 11 November 2023 (IDN) — For the Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC), the ecumenical alliance for the Pacific region, it was a very difficult decision to go to this year’s COP in Dubai, a conference chaired by the CEO of Dubai’s national oil company who is a significant figure […]