By Thalif Deen NEW YORK (IDN) — World military spending hit a new all-time high last year reaching a staggering $2.1 trillion—for the first time ever. The five largest spenders in 2021 were the United States, China, India, the United Kingdom and Russia, together accounting for 62 per cent of expenditure, according to the latest […]
Caribbean Foreign Relations and Super-Power Politics of Putin’s Ukraine War
Viewpoint by P.I. Gomes Dr P.I. Gomes is retired Ambassador of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana to the Kingdom of Belgium and the European Union and former Secretary-General of ACP Group of State, now the Organisation of African, the Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS). PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago (IDN) — Recent events of […]
A Coastal South African Province Experiences Threat Posed by Climate Change
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | DURBAN (IDN) — Record-breaking levels of rainfall threaten a new round of flooding and landslides in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal. Already, the calamity has taken over 400 lives, left some 40,000 homeless, with an economic cost yet to be tallied. Weather forecasters and climate scientists, speaking to […]
A Congolese Immigrant Family in the US Confronts Police Shooting Like the Executions Back Home
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — When Patrick Lyoya, a Congolese immigrant, died at the hands of a police officer in Grand Rapids, Michigan, his life was cut down by violence much like the home-grown executions Congolese have been facing in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for years. Close to […]
Ukraine War Could Drive Millions Elsewhere into Starvation
By Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY (IDN) — While images of the war devastation in Ukraine have saturated the news bulletins around the world, a much more severe human disaster is unravelling in many other parts of the world that could throw over one-fifth of humanity back into poverty. “We have all seen the tragedy unfolding inside […]
Private Sector Has a Pivotal Role in Achieving Universal Health Coverage in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Viewpoint by Massimiliano Colella The author is the chief executive officer of Evercare. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (IDN) — With public debt reaching record highs both in developed and emerging markets—and with even more financial volatility following the COVID-19 pandemic—government budgets have been stretched thin. Underfunding in healthcare versus competing priorities has led to heavily […]
US Urged to Restore the UN-Backed 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal
By Radwan Jakeem NEW YORK (IDN) — More than 40 former government officials and leading nuclear non-proliferation experts have expressed strong support for an agreement that returns Iran and the United States to comply with the 2015 nuclear deal. The accord between Iran and the major world powers, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of […]
Remembering ECHELON: The First International Mass Surveillance Program
By Mila Bera BELGRADE (IDN) — Ask a family member or friend how much they value their online privacy and you’ll usually get a noncommittal answer that belies their disinterest. In fact, most people don’t have a clue how much their privacy is really worth. Governments and their agencies have no such doubts; they set […]
Street Vending: Covid Seems to Have Killed a Bangkok Icon
By Pattama Vilailert BANGKOK (IDN) — Street vendors have been an iconic attraction for millions of tourists that visited Bangkok each year before the COVID-19 pandemic. In perfect tune with the Thais’ approach to enjoying life to its fullest, including eating and shopping, street vendors have set their carts in the heart of Thai people […]
Women Die in Troubled Marriages Because We Slay Singles
Nigerian Gospel Singer Dead at 42 Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwen The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria. ABUJA (IDN) — A good number of those I have spoken with since the news of her tragic death broke on April 8 night, said Nigerian gospel artiste, Osinachi Nwachukwu, 42, should […]