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By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK, 20 March 2023 (IDN) — Silicon Valley Bank, the bank of choice for most startups and venture capitalists, is no more. It was closed after the bank announced it had lost $1.8 billion in the sale of treasuries and securities.
Millions of dollars banked by startups and venture capital funds were at stake until the U.S. Federal Reserve acted to save the day.
By Jan Servaes*
BRUSSELS, 13 March 2023 (IDN) — Political hunger strikers Tantawan "Tawan" Tuatulanon, 21, and Orawan "Bam" Phupong, 23, ended their hunger strike on Saturday, March 11, after 53 days. "Tawan and Bam want to let the public know that we have ended the hunger strike to save our lives and continue fighting," Tawan said in a Facebook post. "The medical staff is concerned about our kidneys and other organs due to the long period without food and water." The Bangkok Post confirmed they were conscious and able to communicate.
By Farai Shawn Matiashe
MUTARE, Zimbabwe, 5 March 2023 (IDN) — Every morning as Mercy Mubatsa fetches water from a tap outside her home in Penhalonga, a mining area 263 kilometres (163 miles) outside the Zimbabwean capital Harare, her anxiety is heightened.
In March last year, mercury and cyanide deposits from artisanal gold mines in Penhalonga were detected in Lake Alexander, about 32 kilometres from the mines, that supply water to her home.
By Jaya Ramachandran
GENEVA, 4 March 2023 (IDN) — Multiple crises including the COVID-19 pandemic, climate crisis, growing inequalities, rising debt burdens and economic shocks are strongly affecting world's 46 Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
They face the challenge of high debt costs because they do not have sufficient cash to provide essential services. In the last decade, debt service costs in LDCs have increased from around 5% in 2011 to over 20% today.
By J Nastranis
NEW YORK, 17 Feb 2023 (IDN) — In view of the failure of the global financial system to effectively cushion the impacts of current global crises on the Global South—the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the ongoing climate emergency—the UN has called for an increase of about $500 billion each year by world's most developed nations to finance the crucial 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs).
By Aurora Weiss
VIENNA (IDN) — The COVID-19 pandemic has increased human trafficking using social networks and the Internet as a platform, Lead Author of the UNODC Global Reports on Trafficking in Persons, Fabricio Sarrica, told IDN.
He was highlighting some salient aspects of the 2022 UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, the seventh of its kind mandated by the General Assembly through the 2010 United Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons.
Viewpoint by Jayasri Priyalal*
SINGAPORE (IDN) — How many of us can predict continuing to hold the job that we do currently into the future? That is the challenge many policyholders grapple to address to develop strategies to stimulate the stalled economies to grow sustainably.
The concept of a job is disappearing as there is an increasing trend of atomization of work processes with technological infiltration. As such, job security is fading away, and the employability of human talent is gaining prominence.
By Kalinga Seneviratne
SYDNEY (IDN) — In April 2020, the then Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison called for an independent inquiry into the origins of Covid-19, which riled the Chinese leadership. China rapidly imposed sanctions on Australian imports, especially on the lucrative barley, wine and wheat trade. They also started looking for new iron ore suppliers, an export to China that has helped Australia’s economic boom in the past three decades.
Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene
The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria.
ABUJA (IDN) — The shenanigans were always there, but until FIFA president Infantino Giovanni called them out in his down-to-earth press conference in Qatar, they remained the elephant in the room.
The hint of displeasure goes back 12 years ago when Qatar won the bid, defeating Australia, Japan, South Korea and the United States. That outcome was unexpected.
Nature-Based Solutions Could Generate 20 million New Jobs
By Jaya Ramachandran
GENEVA (IDN) — A joint report by three UN organisations says that 20 million jobs could be created by further harnessing the power of nature to address the major challenges facing society, such as climate change, disaster risk and food and water insecurity.
According to the report by the International Labour Organization (ILO), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), investing in policies that support Nature-based Solutions (NbS), would generate significant employment opportunities, particularly in rural areas.
IDN-InDepthNews offers news analyses, features, reports and viewpoints that impact the world and its peoples. It has been online since 2009. Its network spans countries around the world.