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By Kalinga Seneviratne
SYDNEY (IDN) — The 12th and the first anniversary issue of Sustainable Development Observer started by IDN-InDepthNews Southeast Asia with no funding and a lot of passion is out now. The situation has not changed, and it is your feedback and encouragement that keeps us going.
Viewpoint by René Wadlow, President, Association of World Citizens
GENEVA (IDN) — On August 26, 2022, there was the bombing by Ethiopian federal troops of a primary school in Mekelle—the capital city of the Tigray province, which had a population of about 500,000 before the fighting began. It is not clear if the attack brings to an end some five months of relative calm in the war-torn Tigray or not.
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power
LUND, Sweden (IDN) — High moments aside, do we know what happiness is? Is the world becoming a happier place? Are we happier than our parents' or grandparents’ generations? What could give us a little more happiness?
"Homo Sapiens has been around for about 8,000 generations, and for most of that time, life has been rather unpleasant. Most humans who have ever lived have done so under despotic regimes," wrote Stephen Krasner in Foreign Affairs in March 2020. Life expectancy, he points out, didn’t begin to increase until 1850, just seven generations ago, and accelerated only after 1900. It is still accelerating.
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — The alarm bells have been ringing right across Europe as the Russian invasion of Ukraine has not only triggered nuclear threats by one of the world's major nuclear powers but also set off emergency drills outside a nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia which has come under fire.
Against this distressing backdrop, a four-week Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) concluded on August 26 on a note of abject disappointment.
Time for a National Forum or Assembly
By Simone Galimberti
The writer is the Co-Founder of ENGAGE, a not-for-profit NGO in Nepal. He writes on volunteerism, social inclusion, youth development and regional integration as an engine to improve people's lives.
KATHMANDU (IDN) — One of the pillars of Our Common Agenda, the UN Secretary-General's global blueprint on delivering a better future based on cooperation and multilateralism, is a strong focus on inclusion, protection and participation.
Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene
The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria.
ABUJA (IDN) — One of the ironies of politics is how easily fiction becomes reality, and reality, precedent. Before our eyes, the president-elect of Kenya, William Ruto, who has played all sides of Kenya’s politics for at least three decades, has just won an election by claiming to be an outsider.
Ruto’s electoral epic of “hustler vs. dynasty” appears to have wiped off all memory of his 30-year involvement in the good and bad of Kenya’s politics. This legend won him a razor-thin victory over Raila Odinga in the August 9 presidential election.
Viewpoint by Hidehiko Yuzaki, Governor of Hiroshima, Japan
The following is the content of Hiroshima Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki's speech at a side event (co-hosted by Nagasaki and Hiroshima Prefectures) under the theme "Nexus between Nuclear Disarmament and Sustainable Future" held at UN Headquarters on August 1, the first day of the 2022 NPT Review Conference. The side event was attended by about 70 diplomats, nuclear disarmament experts, and NGO representatives.
UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — I am Hidehiko YUZAKI, Governor of Hiroshima Prefecture and President of Hiroshima Organization for Global Peace or HOPe for short.
Viewpoint by Tim Westbury
This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission.
BRISBANE, Australia (IDN) — The Pacific Islands security narrative is often dominated by voices and interests from outside of the region. At the recent Shangri-La Dialogue, among the hype surrounding geostrategic competition in the Pacific, Fiji’s Defence Minister Inia Seruiratu said that the “single greatest threat to our very existence is ... human-induced, devastating climate change.”
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) — Is the two-party system a thing of the past? Low voter turnout in the US seems to reflect disenchantment with a single choice between Democrats and Republicans. Kenya is no different.
This month, Kenyans tossed the traditional toss-up between the Luo and Kikuyu ethnic groups to choose William Samoei Ruto, a Kalenjin. His party, the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and its allies, took the political experts by surprise when he easily won all nine governorships of Mount Kenya—once considered a sure bet for a Luo.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK | MOGADISHU (IDN) — Government forces say they have put down a siege at the popular Hayat Hotel in Mogadishu that began on August 19 and has reportedly left over 20 casualties. It is the largest siege in the country since Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was elected president in May.
The Hayat is an upscale hotel frequented by government officials, elders and people from the diaspora community. The director of Mogadishu’s main trauma hospital, Mohamed Abdirahman Jama, said the facility was treating at least 40 people wounded in the hotel attack and a separate mortar strike on another area of the capital.
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.