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 […]
Climate Change Threatens to Reverse Health Gains
By Jaya Ramachandran GENEVA | 2 November 2023 (IDN) — A new multi-agency report coordinated by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has warned that as the world warms at a faster rate than at any point in recorded history, climate change is threatening to reverse decades of progress towards better health and well-being, particularly in […]
Russia’s Decision to Revoke Ratification of CTBT Comes Under Fire
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS | 1 November 2023 (IDN) — A decision by the Russian parliament to pass a bill on 18 October to revoke its ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) has come under heavy fire. Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he was “dismayed” by the Duma’s decision to revoke […]
New Report Examines Racism and Racial Discrimination in the UN System
By Shihana Mohamed* UNITED NATIONS | 31 October 2023 (IDN) — In 2020, the UN Secretary-General made formal acknowledgement that racism exists within the United Nations in 2020. He said, “Racism is the repudiation of our common humanity—of the Charter of the United Nations—of all that we are and all that we do. We must […]
No-Go For Kenyan Troops to Haiti — At Least For Now
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 30 October 2023 (IDN) — One thousand Kenyan soldiers will not be going to Haiti anytime soon. That’s the word from the High Court in Kenya freezing a UN Security Council-approved mission to the Caribbean nation to combat gang violence there. The mission was put on […]
UN Rapporteur Bashes Eritrean Defence Forces for Atrocities in Tigray
BRUSSELS | 27 October 2023 (IDN) — UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, Dr. Mohamed Abdelsalam Babiker, has expressed “great concern” that almost a year after the signature of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA) between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), “Eritrean families continue to […]
Rising Military Conflicts Result in Over 114 million Refugees
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS | 26 October 2023 (IDN) — The staggering number of military conflicts worldwide—including the most recent in Gaza—continues to rise, resulting in civilian deaths, devastation of cities and villages, along with millions of refugees and widespread famines and food shortages In a report released on 25 October, the UN refugee […]
A Milestone in the History of Nuclear Diplomacy
70th Anniversary of President Eisenhower’s Speech on “Atoms for Peace” By Leonam dos Santos Guimarâes *The writer is a Nuclear and naval engineer (PhD) member of the Brazilian National Academy of Engineering. CEO of Eletronuclear S.A. Coordinator, Brazilian Navy Nuclear Propulsion Program. RIO DE JANEIRO | 23 October 2023 (IDN) — On 8 December 1953, […]