By Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY | TOKYO, 31 March 2023 (IDN) — A one-day conference at Soka University in Tokyo on March 29 titled ‘Advancing Security and Sustainability at the G7 Hiroshima Summit’ discussed the complex problem of swaying the focus away from the Ukraine war towards green development and food and energy security at the […]
East African Leaders Clash with West Over Gay Rights and the Environment
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK, 27 March 2023 (IDN) — In defiance of the United Nations, the U.S. and other world government and human rights organizations, the Ugandan parliament has passed a bill imposing the most severe penalties against its gay community – criminalizing lesbians, gays and bisexuals for simply existing. Ugandan […]
WHO Providing War-torn Yemen Crucial Humanitarian Aid
By Bernhard Schell CAIRO, 25 March 2023 (IDN) — The United Nations has warned that eight years of protracted multilateral conflict in Yemen, with the involvement of Saudi Arabia, has produced the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. Over two-thirds of Yemen’s population—21.6 million people—are in acute need of humanitarian assistance, and more than 20 […]
Climate Change Poses Existential Threat to the World’s Poorest
Plea for Radical Reduction in Global Emissions By Rita Joshi BONN, 21 March 2023 (IDN) — “We’re running out of time but not out of options to address climate change,” declared Simon Stiell, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, commenting on the IPCC’s Synthesis Report of the Sixth Assessment Report, released on 20 March.
Flagship UN Report Calls for Urgent Climate Action
By IPCC Press Office INTERLAKEN, Switzerland, 20 March 2023 (IDN) — There are multiple feasible and effective options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to human-caused climate change. They are available now, said scientists in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released today.
India in the Spotlight Over Cough Medicines Fatal to African Children
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK, 20 March 2023 (IDN) — An epidemic of kidney disease among children in Africa has been linked to deadly toxins in cough medicine imported from India. Doctors say they see dozens of children under the age of five with kidney failure—a condition they only saw once or […]
UN Finds Technology & Innovation Key to Gender Equality
By Caroline Mwanga NEW YORK, 18 March 2023 (IDN) — The UN’s largest annual gathering on gender equality, the empowerment of all women and girls and their human rights closed its two-week-long session on 17 March, acknowledging the critical role of technology and innovation in achieving gender equality.
UN Concerned About Surge in Global Supply of Cocaine
By Reinhard Jacobsen VIENNA, 17 March 2023 (IDN) — The United Nations is concerned about a dramatic jump in the global production of cocaine over the past two years after an initial slowdown triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. “The surge in the global cocaine supply should put all of us on high alert,” said Ghada […]
Forest Elephants Enhance Carbon Capture—Keep Them Alive
By Ngala Killian Chimtom YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon, 11 March 2023 (IDN) — While African forest elephants have traditionally been thought of as playing a destructive, negative role in forests, the big munchers are now seen as critical to saving a climate in peril. Scientists now suggest that the perceived destructive nature of the African forest elephant […]
Vanuatu’s Cyclone Destruction Makes ICJ Opinion Critical
By Kalinga Seneviratne SUVA, Fiji, 9 March 2023 (IDN) — After two destructive cyclones and an earthquake within a week, people of the small Pacific Islands state of Vanuatu are slowly picking up the pieces after the destruction from winds and rains that flooded many properties. This devastation should strengthen Vanuatu’s ongoing initiative at the […]