EU & Europe

Photo: Russian defence ministry spokesperson Major-General Igor Konashenkov presents the results of an investigation into the shooting down on September 17 of a Russian Ilyushin Il-20 electronic signals intelligence aircraft. Credit: Russian MoD/YouTube

The Russia, Iran, Turkey, Israel and Syria Mosaic

Viewpoint by Pier Francesco Zarcone*

ROME (IDN) – Recent events in Syria (downing of a Russian Ilyushin plane and an agreement between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recip Erdoğan on Idlib) lead to some reflections starting with the Israeli bombing that caused more than ten Russian deaths.

Many political observers, including Alberto Negri writing in a September 19 article on the Antidiplomatico site, have noted that when Israel is involved Putin is less decisive than usual. In fact, so far there has been no real Russian reaction to many Israeli violations of Syrian sovereignty, apart from certain formal protests.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 24 September 2018

Former UN Chief and Bill Gates on Board as the Netherlands Accelerates Climate Adaptation

By Reinhard Jacobsen

AMSTERDAM (IDN) – Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will oversee the Global Commission on Adaptation to climate change, which the Government of the Netherlands and the Global Center on Adaptation have decided to set up. It will be formally launched on October 16 in The Hague. Bill Gate, Co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva will support Ban.

The Global Center on Adaptation, an international organization hosted by the Netherlands, in partnership with World Resources Institute will co-host the Commission.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 11 September 2018

Photo: Nigerian refugees in Gagamari camp, Diffa region, Niger. Violence inflicted by the terrorist group Boko Haram from northern Nigeria has destabilised the entire region and caused large scale displacements of people. Photo: EU/ECHO/Anouk Delafortrie

UN, Member States, Funding Institutions Unite to Ensure Security and Development in the Lake Chad Region

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN (IDN) – More than 17 million people across north-eastern Nigeria and parts of Cameroon, Chad and Niger, comprising the Lake Chad region, are facing a complex crisis driven by extreme poverty, climate change and violent conflict compounded by the terrorist activities of Boko Haram, a jihadist militant organization. As a result, more than 2.4 million people are displaced and over 10 million people need assistance to meet their basic protection and humanitarian needs.

Against this backdrop, 70 delegations from governments, regional and international organizations and civil society representatives participating in the High Level Conference on the Lake Chad Region have agreed on an aid package of US$ 2.17 billion to support humanitarian and peacebuilding as well as development activities to ensure security in the area.

: Ramesh Jaura; UN INSIDER; 04 September 2018

Photo: Sweden's third largest city Malmö, All sorts of wild ideas are now floating around about murder and rape. One of wild ideas now floating around is that because of immigrants the murder rate has gone up over the last two years. Photo source: Wikimedia Commons.

Sweden's Political Balance Threatened by Immigration Debate

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – The arrival in Sweden of 163,000 refugees, mainly Syrians, in 2015 – making for a higher proportion of Sweden's population than almost any other European country – has been used by the far right to drum up broader fears about immigration. A recent spate of shootings, grenade attacks and burnt-out cars has made many Swedes feel afraid of what is going on. This is despite international surveys showing it's the best nation at everything from economic competitiveness to doing good for humanity to achieving happiness.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 04 September 2018

Photo: An evening glimpse of entrance to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Big Oil Locked in War with Institutions of the Art World

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – A growing number of museums in Europe are turning thumbs down on oil company dollars when the companies not only contribute to global warming but fund the "science" that supposedly disproves it.

Oil company funding also misleads public perception of environmental devastation as in Nigeria where billions of dollars were made extracting oil while highly toxic water and soil remain.

A recent study published in the International Journal of Hydrology found that levels of Cobalt, Copper and Iron are so high in the communities of Gokana, Ogoniland, River State, as to render their water unsuitable for human consumption due to the potential adverse health effect at high levels.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 04 September 2018

Photo: View of the ICJ courtroom on the opening day of the hearings. Credit: ICJ

Mauritius Approaches UN Court for Return of Diego Garcia

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – When colonial powers redrew borders in Africa and picked choice lands for themselves and less desirable land for everyone else, some of those deals remained through this century. Few were undone.

A case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) will decide if colonial deals that redrew African borders can be declared illegal and, if so, if islands taken by the United Kingdom from the nation of Mauritius can be rejoined to Mauritius as before.

Mauritius says it was illegally stripped by Britain of the Chagos Islands, now home to a major U.S. air base.

: Global Information Network; UN INSIDER; 04 September 2018

Photo: Lake Chad map. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Conference Comes to the Aid of Drought-Stricken, Boko Haram Terrorised Lake Chad Region

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN (IDN) – Foreign Minister Heiko Maas of Europe's powerhouse Germany, which joins the UN Security Council next January as a non-permanent member for 2019-2020, has pledged 100 million Euros (116 million USD) in emergency aid until 2020 to lessen the sufferings of over 10 million people in Africa's crisis-ridden Lake Chad region. This is in addition to 40 million Euros already earmarked to aid political stability in 2018 and 2019.

Maas, who was opening a two-day high-ranking international donor conference in Berlin on September 3 said the Lake Chad region – once a crucial interface between the Sahara and the southern part of Africa – is "one of the greatest humanitarian disasters of our times".

: Ramesh Jaura; THE WORLD; Africa; 03 September 2018

Photo: U.S. Air Force maintenance technicians assigned to the 509th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron work on a B-2 stealth bomber at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo. on March 19, 2011. The unit maintains aircraft tasked with strategic nuclear deterrence and global strike operations. Credit: Kenny Holston/U.S. Air Force

Uncertainty About Whether the U.S. and Russia Can Avert a New Arms Race

By Daryl G. Kimball

The United States and Russia are rushing forward with costly, ambitious plans to upgrade their Cold War nuclear arsenals and develop new types of destabilizing nuclear weapon, writes Daryl G. Kimball, Executive Director of the Arms Control Association in the September issue of Arms Control Today. The editorial appeared with the caption 'Can the U.S. and Russia Avert a New Arms Race?'

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN-INPS) – Five long years have passed since U.S. President Barack Obama proposed and Russian President Vladimir Putin unfortunately rejected negotiations designed to cut their excessive nuclear stockpiles by one-third below the limits set by the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START).

: Daryl G. Kimball; OPINION; 02 September 2018

Photo: A Palestine refugee woman receives food assistance at the UNRWA Khan Younis Distribution Centre in Gaza. UNRWA/Tamer Hamam.

EU Slates U.S. for Slashing Aid Funding to Palestinian Refugees, UN Urges Increased Assistance

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Nearly three months after the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in its 2017 Annual Report warned about the deteriorating state of health across the agency’s five areas of operation – Jordan, Lebanon, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Gaza, and Syria – the United States has announced its decision to stop funding the agency, worsening the situation further.

In the absence of a solution to the Palestine refugee problem, the UN General Assembly has repeatedly renewed UNRWA's mandate, most recently extending it until June 30, 2020.

: J Nastranis; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 01 September 2018

EU-U.S. Tussle Over Iran Sanctions and the Aftermath

By Kelsey Davenport

The author is Director for Non-Proliferation Policy at the Arms Control Association (ACA). This analysis is being reproduced from ACA's Special Newsletter of August 24, 2018. – The Editor.

WASHINGON. D.C. (IDN-INPS) – During an August 19-22 trip to Israel, National Security Advisor John Bolton said U.S. sanctions reimposed on Iran are having economic effects “even stronger than we anticipated” and that the United States expects that Europeans will see that the “choice between doing business with Iran or doing business with the United States is very clear.”

Iran figured prominently in discussions between Bolton and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.