By David Vergun, DOD News WASHING TON | 2 July 2024 (IDN) — The National Defense Strategy places a primary focus on the need to strengthen U.S. military deterrence against China and defeat it if necessary. The Marine Corps implemented its “Force Design” strategy six years ago to address that challenge. Commandant of the Marine […]
Next Asian Hotspot: “Outsiders” Could Trigger Conflict in The Himalayas
Viewpoint by Kalinga Seneviratne BANGKOK | 27 June 2023 (IDN) — Current geopolitical tensions in the Asian region — what China calls “outsiders interfering in the region to create conflict”— spreading to India’s Himalayan borders, threatening India’s and the region’s security. The conflict in India’s north-eastern state of Manipur bordering Myanmar is already beginning to […]
Ocean Currents Bringing Plastic Waste to Tonga
By Malia Kavai* NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga | 25 June 2024 (IDN | Wansolwara) — Ocean currents across the vast Pacific Ocean are bringing plastic wastes to Tonga. This is the warning from two visiting scholars from New Zealand. The two scholars, Professor Palatasa Havea from Massey University and Dr. Bridie Allan, a lecturer at Otago University, […]
Solomon Islands: Coconut Industry Face Extinction
By Stephen Diisango* HONIARA, Solomon Islands | 21 June 2024 (IDN | Wansolwara) — The hostile, coconut rhinoceros beetle (CRB) is threatening Solomon Islands coconut plantations likely subjecting to extinction. It poses a serious threat to the country’s coconut industry unless urgent steps are taken to exterminate this coconut pest once and for all. Known […]
Vanishing Shores of Fiji — Villagers Battle Against Coastal Erosion
By Salote Esira* QARASARAU VILLAGE, Fiji | 20 June 2024 (IDN| Wansolwara) — Nestled along the central coast of Serua province, the village of Qarasarau has always been a picturesque haven blessed with stunning coastal views and a thriving marine ecosystem. For generations, the villagers lived in harmony with the sea, drawing their sustenance from […]
Iranians To Elect Successor of Raisi from Six Presidential Candidates
By Ramesh Jaura* BERLIN | 10 June 2024 (IDN) — Iran is gearing up for a new presidential election to replace Ebrahim Raisi, who lost his life in a helicopter crash on May 19. Iran’s Interior Ministry has released the final list of candidates for the presidential election scheduled for June 28. According to Iran’s […]
First Korea-Africa Summit Paves Way for A New Era of Cooperation
By Taro Ichikawa TOKYO | SEOUL | 6 June 2024 (IDN) — Three decades after Japan organised the First International Conference on African Development (TICAD)—in collaboration with the United Nations, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the African Union Commission (AUC), and the World Bank—its immediate neighbour and former colony (South) Korea convened its first […]
Promotion of Technology Will Not Help the Poor to Access Water
By Kalinga Seneviratne BANGKOK | 4 June 2024 (IDN) — The recently concluded 10th World Water Forum (WWF) in the Indonesian tourism island of Bali focused on adoption of technology—that will include desalination plants and solar power—as the savior to provide safe drinking water to millions of the poor communities across the world. But activists […]
Is China Grabbing the South China Sea?
By Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden | 8 May 2024 (IDN) — Napoleon warned us that China was a sleeping giant best left, undisturbed. No longer. As is clear from the visit of President Xi Jinping to France this week, the giant is well awake, even happy to pay a ceremonial visit to Napoleon’s tomb, affirming […]
It’s China, Stupid! Why the West Is Courting India
By Herbert Wulf* This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission. BONN, Germany | 24 April 2024 (IDN) — India votes. In the world’s largest democracy, with almost a billion voters, parliamentary elections are being held from April 19 to June 1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is […]