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The Covid Endgame and Digital Colonialism: Cyber War Simulacra in An Upside-Down World

Viewpoint by Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake

The writer, Dr Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake, is a Social and Medical Anthropologist, at the International Centre for Ethnic Studies, based in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

COLOMBO (IDN) — The greatest transfer of wealth in human history took place during Covid-19 lockdowns with Covid masks and Personal Protection Equipment. The rest of the world was impoverished.[i] But the tipping point is here now: Two years of Covid 'panicdemic' and WHO staged ‘Permanent Emergency’ has shown us that 'the Emperor has no clothes', comprehensively.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 28 January 2022

Coronavirus Cases Are Shooting Up Across Africa

By Jeffrey Moyo

HARARE (INPS) — There are over 228 000 coronavirus cases in Zimbabwe, with more than 5000 deaths while north of this country stands Zambia laden with over 300 000 coronavirus cases and more than 3000 COVID-related deaths and not to be left out, is Mozambique east of Zimbabwe, contending with more than 200 000 coronavirus cases, this with over 2000 deaths related to the feared pandemic.

As this happens, health experts like Malawi’s Joseph Banda have said for Africa as a whole, there is no respite as coronavirus cases continue to rise, getting out of hand in the process.

: Jeffrey Moyo; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 27 January 2022

US Democracy Crisis: Are We in CARICOM Assessing the Situation?

Viewpoint by Elizabeth Morgan

This article was issued by the CARICOM TODAY on January 26. The writer is specialist in International Trade Policy and International Politics.

KINGSTON (IDN) — On January 11, I wrote about the USA hosting the 9th Summit of the Americas and mentioned the weakened state of democracy in that country. The Economists Intelligence Unit, in its Democracy Index, ranked the USA as a flawed democracy. In fact, as I wrote that article, I wondered whether the USA could be invited to the Summit it is hosting, given that a criterion for attendance is adhering strictly to democratic principles.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 27 January 2022

Photo: From left to Right- Manish Uprety F.R.A.S. and Jainendra Karn

India-UK Free Trade Agreement: Band-Aid or a Band of Democracies

Viewpoint by Manish Uprety F.R.A.S. and Jainendra Karn

Manish Uprety is an ex-diplomat & ALCAP’s Special Adviser for Asia & Africa and Jainendra Karn is a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of IDN-InDepth News.

NEW DELHI (IDN) — Post Magna Carta and the Treaty of Westphalia, international relations between nations are like the sacred marriage vows of Henry VIII or Elizabeth Taylor; and no one knows what the future might unfold. Indo-British relations can also be seen explored in the same light.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 26 January 2022

Image: Subhash Chandra Bose. Source: Indian Express.

Hindu Nationalism in India Attempts Appropriation of 'Netaji' Bose

Viewpoint by Dr Ram Puniyani

This article is the 18th in a series of joint productions of South Asian Outlook and IDN-InDepthNews, the flagship of the International Press Syndicate. The writer is a former professor of biomedical engineering and former senior medical officer affiliated with the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (now Mumbai) and meanwhile a social activist and commentator.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 26 January 2022

Image: Mansudae Grand Monument in Pyongyang (mundosemfim/Shutterstock)

Kim Dynasty: Firmly in Control

Viewpoint by Herbert Wulf

This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission.

BONN (IDN) — When Kim Jong-un took power in North Korea in December 2011, many observers speculated that the young 28-year-old, politically inexperienced son of the late Kim Jong-il and grandson of the first president, Kim Il-sung, would hardly remain in power for long. The communist Kim dynasty was likely to end soon. Today, after ten years, the dictator is firmly in control. What is his economic and security record after ten years?

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 26 January 2022

Photo: Protest in Bonn, West Germany against the nuclear arms race between the U.S./NATO and the then Soviet Union. Wikimedia Commons.

Clarion Call for Policies to End the Nuclear Arms Race

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | PRAGUE (IDN) — On January 24, 1946, the United Nations General Assembly adopted by consensus its very first resolution Resolution 1 (I), which established a commission of the UN Security Council to ensure "the elimination from national armaments of atomic weapons and all other major weapons adaptable to mass destruction". The Resolution is entitled "Establishment of a Commission to Deal with the Problems Raised by the Discovery of Atomic Energy".

: Ramesh Jaura; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 26 January 2022

Photo: A young man with a heap of debris. Credit: UNDP Yemen

Devastating Loss of Civilian Lives in a Middle East War Fuelled by Western Arms

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — The Saudi-led airstrikes in Yemen on January 21, which killed at least 70 civilians, has shifted the focus once again to the festering seven-year-old conflict in the Middle East, which the UN has described as “the world’s worst humanitarian disaster”.

The disproportionate retaliation was a response to a drone attack by the Houthis based in Yemen, which killed about three in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), an integral partner of the Saudi military coalition.

: Thalif Deen; THE WORLD; Middle East; 25 January 2022

Image source: Map of Ukraine conflict region. Courtesy of Adobe Stock. Source: RUSI

The West Needs to Understand Why Ukraine Is So Important to Russia

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — “George, you have to understand that Ukraine is not even a country. Part of its territory is in Eastern Europe and the greater part was given to us.” These were the ominous words of President Vladimir Putin of Russia to President George W. Bush in Bucharest, Romania, at a NATO summit in April 2008. (This is the beginning paragraph of Fiona Hills’s article on January 24 in New York Times.)

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 25 January 2022

Photo: A family visit the grave of their mother who worked at a popular restaurant in Indonesia where she likely contracted COVID-19. © UNICEF/Jiro Ose

'Coronavirus Is Here to Stay'

By Caroline Mwanga

NEW YORK (IDN) — It is "dangerous to assume that Omicron will be the last variant, or that we are in the endgame" of the pandemic. "On the contrary, globally, the conditions are ideal for more variants to emerge," exactly two years and a day since he declared the deadly virus a public health emergency of international concern, says Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the UN's World Health Organization (WHO).