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By Radwan Jakeem
NEW YORK (IDN) — Yemen, currently among the poorest countries in the world, continues to be mired in a conflict underway since 2015, which in addition to the loss of life is tearing apart livelihoods, social fabric, causing Yemen to teeter on the brink of famine, and resulting in widespread reversals of development progress.
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — A longstanding proposal for a nuclear-weapons-free zone in the politically and militarily volatile Middle East remains elusive. Since 1967, five nuclear-weapon-free zones (NWFZ) have been established worldwide—in Latin America and the Caribbean, South Pacific, Southeast Asia, Africa and Central Asia.
Speaking at the second “UN Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and other Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs),” which took place November 29 to December 3, UN Secretary-General António Guterres pointed out that the five existing zones include 60 per cent of the UN’s 193 Member States—and cover almost all of the Southern Hemisphere.
By Thalif Deen
New York (IDN) — The politically and militarily volatile Middle East continues its run as one of the world’s biggest single arms markets—led primarily by Saudi Arabia. But the Saudi dominance is being gradually challenged by another oil-blessed country in the region: the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
According to the latest report from the US Commercial Service, the trade promotion arm of the US Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration, the UAE is second only to Saudi Arabia, which has been ranked first globally, due to several large deals, topping $1.9 billion in purchases over the past year, while the UAE’s purchases amounted to $609 million during August 2020-July 2021.
Viewpoint by Catrin Waters
The writer is a student at University of Virginia in the U.S. and a volunteer with the High Atlas Foundation, a U.S./Moroccan non-profit organization focused on sustainable development.
VIRGINIA, USA (IDN) — Before you read this, I challenge you to pause and ask your body the question: how do you like the thoughts I think about you?
By Radwan Jakeem
NEW YORK (IDN) — Lebanon has been assured critical life-saving assistance and protection to some 1.1 million citizens and migrants over the next 12 months. The UN and humanitarian partners have announced an Emergency Response Plan (ERP) worth $383 million.
The ERP covers 119 projects in the sectors of education, food security, health, nutrition, water and sanitation, child protection and protection against gender-based violence.
By Kelsey Davenport, Julia Masterson, and Sang-Min Kim
While Kelsey Davenport is director for nonproliferation policy, Julia Masterson is research associate, and Sang-Min Kim is Scoville Fellow at the Arms Control Association. This article first appeared in Arms Control Now of the Association on August 11, 2021.
WAHINGTON, DC (IDN) — Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi pledged to pursue “smart engagement” in order to lift sanctions on Iran during his Aug. 5 inauguration speech.
Torture in Syrian military hospital
By Rita Joshi
BERLIN/KARLSRUHE (IDN) — The German Federal Prosecutor's Office announced on July 28 that it has filed charges under the principle of universal jurisdiction against Alaa M, a Syrian doctor who fled to Germany. M is accused in 18 cases of torturing people and subsequently killing one of them, according to ECCHR – European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights.
Viewpoint by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies*
NEW YORK (IDN) — At Bagram air-base, Afghan scrap merchants are already picking through the graveyard of U.S. military equipment that was until recently the headquarters of America’s 20-year occupation of their country. Afghan officials say the last U.S. forces slipped away from Bagram in the dead of night, without notice or coordination.
By Professor Ellen Hernandez*
The article below explores the importance of education and literacy in the U.S. and Morocco in informing citizens of their rights.
COLLINGSWOOD, USA (IDN) — On June 19, 2021, Americans officially recognized “Juneteenth” as a national holiday. Most Americans understand the holiday to be a celebration of the end of slavery brought about by the U.S. Constitution’s 13th Amendment.
However, the day is actually a recognition of when a remote enclave of enslaved people were informed of the end of slavery more than two years after its declaration and several months before the last states ratified the amendment.
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*
LUND, Sweden (IDN) — The biggest war at the moment is the civil war in Somalia, started in 1991. It has claimed over half a million lives. Second, is the civil war in Syria which has led to about 400,000 deaths. Third, is South Sudan where approximately 400,000 have been killed. Yemen is a younger conflict, with over 230,000 deaths. Human suffering is at its worse in Yemen—it is held in the pincers of Saudi Arabia and the Arab Emirates. Food and medical supplies have often been squeezed to a dribble. The US and the UK contribute to relief in the Yemen via the UN’s World Food Program and UNICEF, while supplying arms to the side of Saudi Arabia.
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.