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 […]
Towards a World Without Armies and Wars
By P. Soma Palan* COLOMBO | 11 November 2023 (IDN) — A world without armies would seem to the vast majority of people fanciful, impracticable, unrealistic, idealistic and unattainable a proposition in our present existential world. This is on the presumption that the existing world order is fixed and unalterable. But, if all the countries […]
Global Progress Towards Ending Land Loss to Be Reviewed in Uzbekistan
By Jutta Wolf BONN | 10 November 2023 (IDN) — The UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has announced the launch of its first-ever Data Dashboard compiling national reporting figures from 126 countries, which shows that land degradation is advancing at an astonishing rate across Africa, Asia and Latin America. Between 2015 and 2019, the […]
Jayantha Dhanapala: A Leader for Nuclear Disarmament
By Randy Rydell Remembering Mr. Jayantha Dhanapala, at the UN First Committee’s Side Event hosted on 7 November by the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) at the United Nations. UNITED NATIONS | 9 November 2023 (IDN) — I am very pleased to have this opportunity to speak today and to meet once again […]
Crisis in Sri Lanka and the World
A Book Review by W. D. Lakshman The writer is Professor Emeritus, University of Colombo Asoka Bandarage| Crisis in Sri Lanka and the World: Colonial and Neoliberal Origins – Ecological and Collective Alternatives. De Gruyter Contemporary Social Sciences. Vol 30. Berlin and Boston: De Gruyter. 2023 9 November 2023 (IDN) — Asoka Bandarage is known […]
Nuclear Tensions Loom Over War Zones
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS | 9 November 2023 (IDN) — The two ongoing military conflicts in Europe and the Middle East are pitting two nuclear powers—Russia and Israel—against a non-nuclear state (Ukraine) and a non-nuclear militant armed force (Hamas). The military might is overwhelmingly in favor of both Russia and Israel in the two […]
African Fashion Bursting with Opportunities, UNESCO Says
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 7 November 2023 (IDN) — If you thought UNESCO was just about dusty old artifacts, think again. UNESCO, which stands for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, was created in 1945 “to build peace through international cooperation as the only way to build bridges between […]
Horrific Humanitarian Situation in Gaza
By J C Nastranis NEW YORK | 4 November 2023 (IDN) — UN Secretary-General António Guterres has reiterated his appeal for a humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza war raging since 7 October. He said he was “horrified” by a strike on an ambulance convoy outside a hospital in the Gaza Strip on 4 November. According […]
Fiji: Pro-Israel UN Vote Splits the Governing Coalition and Upsets The Army
By Ravindra Singh Prasad SUVA, Fiji | 3 November 2023 (IDN) — Fiji’s vote at the recent UN General Assembly against a ceasefire in Gaza to protect civilians has split the governing coalition government and upset the chief of the armed forces. Fiji’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Professor Biman Prasad, leader of the […]
Don’t Even Think About Starting a Nuclear War
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS | 3 November 2023 (IDN) — In New York City, where streets in mid-town Manhattan are routinely congested and the traffic flow incredibly overwhelming, there is a warning sign outside some buildings that says it all: DON’T EVEN THINK OF PARKING HERE. If you do, either your vehicle will be […]