SUSTAINABILITY

Image: The International Atomic Energy Agency is helping dozens of countries use a nuclear-derived technique called rRT-PCR to detect the new coronavirus, by providing the necessary equipment, guidance and training. Credit: Screenshot of IAEA video.

IAEA Supporting Countries in the Fight against COVID-19

By Reinhard Jacobsen

VIENNA (IDN) – Responding to requests for support from around 90 Member States in controlling an increasing number of infections worldwide, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is dispatching a first batch of equipment to more than 40 countries to enable them to use a nuclear-derived technique to rapidly detect the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

Also known as the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA said that several countries have shown strong support for this emergency assistance and announced major funding contributions for the IAEA's efforts in helping to tackle the pandemic.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; COVID-19; 05 April 2020

Image: The examples of new partnerships springing up between the authorities and tech companies abound: the UK National Health Service is now using the services of Palantir, Microsoft and Amazon to track medical staff and resources to coordinate the UK's coronavirus response. Credit: Screenshot of ZDNET video.

How Data-Mining Companies Are Set to Gain from COVID-19

Viewpoint by Ivan Manokha*

This article was originally published on openDemocracy. Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of IDN-InDepth News.

LONDON (IDN) – The current outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic may be seen as a litmus test for different institutions of contemporary society – the viability of production structures based on global value chains, the solidity of health systems built (or, rather, dismantled) in the period of neoliberalism, and, more generally, the ability of the ‘night-watchman’ neoliberal state to ensure the security and survival of the population.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 05 April 2020

Image credit: Australia TV's 60-minute programme.

COVID-19: Sinophobia Threatening to Endanger Strengthening the Biological Weapons Convention

Viewpoint by Kalinga Seneviratne*

SYDNEY (IDN) – With the spread of COVID-19 to Europe and the US a bout of Sinophobia seems to have infected the western media. On March 29, Australia's 60-minute program – that is well known for sensational reporting – broadcast a program that portrayed China as the villain of the COVID-19 pandemonium, and just stopped short of calling for war against China.

This reminded me of the propaganda that the Anglo-American media broadcast around the world about alleged 'weapons of mass destruction' that Saddam Hussein had, that led to the attack and invasion of Iraq in 2003.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; COVID-19; 04 April 2020

Image: Journalists attacked since 1992. CInredit: CPJ

COVID-19: Call for Freeing All Journalists Jailed Globally

By CPJ

NEW YORK (IDN) – The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has launched the #FreeThePress campaign to call for the unconditional release of all jailed journalists to ensure their safety during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the past four years, CPJ’s annual census has found a record high number of journalists in jail because of their work – at least 250. Those journalists now face a potential death sentence. The World Health Organization has said prisoners are particularly vulnerable to the virus, as self-isolation in jail is impossible, and prisoners are routinely denied medical treatment.

: UN Bureau; COVID-19; 03 April 2020

Photo: Family members who have fled conflict sit inside their tent at the Pissila camp for displaced people in Burkina Faso. WFP/Marwa Awad

Military Intervention Alone Will Fail to Resolve the Sahel Crisis

Viewpoint by Jan Egeland and Jean-François Riffaud

Jan Egeland is Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council. Jean-François Riffaud is Chief Executive Officer of Action Against Hunger-France.

OSLO (IDN) — President Emmanuel Macron invited the five G5 West African leaders to the French city of Pau in January 2020 to shore up support for international engagement in restive Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. All agreed that more European security support was needed to counter violent extremism in the Central Sahel.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Africa; 03 April 2020

A Nobel Peace Laureate Calls for Slashing Military Spending and Investing in Healthcare

By Jutta Wolf

BERLIN (IDN) – The world's oldest peace NGO, the 1910 Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Peace Bureau (IPB), is calling for a "dramatic reduction" of military spending in favour of healthcare and meeting social needs. A petition launched on March 27 and signed by all interested will be submitted to the United Nations General Assembly on the first day of the next session opening on September 15, 2020.

"The world spends 1.8 trillion dollars on military expenditure every year and is scheduled to spend 1 trillion dollars on new nuclear weapons in the next 20 years," notes the IPB in the petition and a statement earlier from its headquarters in Germany's capital city, Berlin.

: Jutta Wolf; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 02 April 2020

Photo: President Trump participates in a signing ceremony for a two trillion dollar coronavirus relief bill in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC on March 27, 2020. Credit: Pool/ABACA/ABACA/PA Images

Our Economic System is on Life Support – But Who are We Really Saving?

Viewpoint by Laurie Macfarlane*

This article was originally published on openDemocracy. Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of IDN-InDepth News.

LONDON (IDN) – In recent weeks governments around the world have injected extraordinary sums of money into the economy to support businesses and households in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

In the UK, the government has committed to paying up to 80 percent of the wages of workers impacted by the outbreak (subject to a cap of 2,500 pounds per month) and has provided 330 billion pounds of financial support for businesses. Similar measures have been announced across Europe.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 02 April 2020

Photo: Buses are being disinfected a couple of times a day in Moscow. Credit: Sergei Ilnitsky/EPA

COVID-19 Could Derail Russia's Constitutional Reform Vote

Viewpoint by Ben Noble*

LONDON (IDN) – Russia's nationwide vote on controversial constitutional reforms is likely to be postponed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The vote is currently scheduled for April 22.

The vote is the last hurdle before this set of reforms – including a change allowing Vladimir Putin to stay in the presidency beyond 2024 – can come into force.

Russian press has reported that a decision to postpone the vote has already been taken by the Kremlin, but a new date has yet to be selected.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 02 April 2020

Photo: Secretary-General António Guterres briefs the media on the socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. UN Photo/Mark GartenPhoto: Secretary-General António Guterres briefs the media on the socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. UN Photo/Mark Garten

The Impact of COVID-19 on the World's Vulnerable a Major Priority of the UN

By Daniel Johnson of UN News

GENEVA (IDN) – The impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on the elderly, the world's poorest, and the asylum seekers as well as the ways and means of addressing the after-effects are some major priorities of the United Nations.

Abandoning elderly at risk from coronavirus is 'criminal', the UN human rights office, OHCHR, has said. The rights of all people and particularly the elderly and infirm need to be respected at a time of crisis such as the ongoing pandemic, the OHCHR said, amid concern that some countries are doing too little to look after their senior citizens.

: UN Bureau; COVID-19; 02 April 2020

Photo: When UK prime minister Boris Johnson argued to "get Brexit done", he was making the case against parliamentary politics. Credit: Houses of Parliament.

There's Nothing So Political as a Pandemic – Part 2

Viewpoint by Adam Ramsay*

This is the second of a two-part article originally published on openDemocracy. Click here for the first part. Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of IDN-InDepth News.

LONDON (IDN) – Given that people feel deeply alienated from our political institutions, it's not surprising that the many will rally behind the idea that we shouldn't politicise crises. Politics, as people experience it, is utterly awful.