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Photo: Veterans in a letter called for Putin to "take a difficult but, as we see it, fair decision to hold the military parade on another date". Putin has meanwhile agreed to defer the military parade. Credit: Sergei Kiselyov/Moskva News Agency

Russia's Victory in WWII Changed the World but War Drums Continue

Viewpoint by Somar Wijayadasa*

NEW YORK (IDN) – On May 9, 1945, after four years of violent battles inside Russia, recorded as the bloodiest and most destructive military conflict in the whole history of humanity, the Russians defeated Nazi Germany in World War II. It is the single most important day in Russian history that elicits a strong feeling of pride and patriotic fervour that binds the nation together.

However, due to the coronavirus pandemic Russia's President Vladimir Putin had to postpone the massive military parade through Red Square. Postponing the event, Putin said, "On Victory Day, we honour the heroes who defended the country and the rest of the world and sacrificed their lives to protect others".

: Somar Wijayadasa; THE WORLD; Russia; 06 May 2020

Photo: ICC Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, presents her Office’s 19th report on the Situation in Libya remotely. © ICC-CPI

ICC Prosecutor Reminds the Security Council of a Special Responsibility for Libya

By Fatou Bensouda

The following are extensive excerpts from the International Criminal Court Prosecutor Ms Fatou Bensouda's statement by video to the UN Security Council on May 5.

NEW YORK | THE HAGUE (IDN) – Despite some inevitable limitations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, my Office's Libya team is forging ahead with its judicial work and investigations, managing to remain active and productive in these exceptional times. The Libya situation remains a priority for my Office, and I seize the opportunity in this forum to announce that my team is working on applications for new warrants of arrest.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 06 May 2020

Photo: War crimes include the use of child soldiers; the killing or torture of persons such as civilians or prisoners of war; intentionally directing attacks against hospitals, historic monuments, or buildings dedicated to religion, education, art, science or charitable purposes. Credit: ICC

Limited Progress Achieved in Deterring War Crimes

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – With a bit more pushing and, after, unfortunately, a bit more killing the three remaining serious wars on the planet, in Syria, Afghanistan and Yemen, should come to an end. Then it will be time to take stock on what caused the killing, especially why so many innocents lost their lives and whether wars of this kind can be deterred in the future.

The world has already made a lot of progress over the last few decades: there are no interstate wars and the number of civil wars has steadily fallen, (albeit the graph has begun an upward turn in the last two years mainly because of mini-wars in West Africa).

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 05 May 2020

Fake News Is 'Infodemic' That Puts Lives at Risk

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – While Americans hotly debate the subject of "fake news," Africans and others around the world marked a day for reflection on press freedoms in theory and in practice. The theme for this year's event launched by the UN agency UNESCO was "Journalism without fear or favour".

The state of journalism in most parts of the world is precarious, according to many media specialists.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 05 May 2020

People in the Global South Don't Need Debt Relief, They Need a New System

Viewpoint by Meera Karunananthan*

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

OTTAWA (IDN) – "Those who led us into debt were gambling, as if they were in a casino … there is talk of a crisis. No. They gambled. They lost … We cannot repay the debt because we have nothing to pay it with. If we do not pay, our creditors will not die. We can be sure of that. On the other hand, if we pay, it is we who will die. Of that we can be equally sure." [Thomas Sankara, President of Burkina Faso, 1983-87]

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 05 May 2020

Photo: U.S.-Sri Lanka month-long military training continued in March and April at Sri Lanka's strategic Trincomalee air and naval base despite travel sanctions and Covid-19 spread on the Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier based in the Indian Ocean - Guam. Credit: Sri Lanka Navy.

Time to End the COVID-19 Fear Psychosis & Militarized Curfews

Viewpoint by Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake

The writer is an anthropologist affiliated with the International Center for Ethnic Studies in Colombo.

"The claim that coronavirus would kill millions without shelter-in-place orders and quarantines is highly questionable .. there's little evidence to confirm that premise ..and current estimates about the Covid-19 fatality rate may be too high by orders of magnitude' – Dr. Eran Bendavid and Dr Jay Bhattacharya, Professor of Medicine at Stanford University.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 04 May 2020

Photo (cropped): Portrait of Beethoven by Joseph Karl Stieler, 1820. Source: Wikipedia Com-mons.

Remembering Ludwig van Beethoven – A Genius with a Disability

By Heike Kuhn

The writer, Dr Heike Kuhn, is Head of the "Human Rights Gender Equality, Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities" of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in Bonn, the capital of divided Germany. The other part of the BMZ is in Berlin, the capital city of unified Germany since 3 October 1990.

BONN (IDN) – The year 2020 marks the 250th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven, the famous composer and pianist‎, well known all over the world. He was a genius with a disability. Germany's UN City Bonn is very proud of its famous son, born here, next to the river Rhine.

: Europe Editor; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 04 May 2020

Image: Collage of the Globe in Hands with 'Agora'

Manifesto 2020 Calls for A Trans-National Citizens' Alliance

Viewpoint by This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. of the Inhabitants of the Earth

BERLIN (IDN) – A new public declaration of policy and aims, Manifesto 2020, has issued a clarion call for declaring poverty Illegal. Poverty Is the product of labour regulation within the context of unequal economic growth. It is the result of global pillage of life in the interests and survival of the powerful, declares the Agora of the inhabitants of the earth.

It also calls for a global campaign for the design, manufacture and use of a global, common, public, free vaccine against Covid-19. Humanity does not need a vaccine war.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 03 May 2020

Photo: The white Mayadevi temple where Gautama Buddha was born in Lumbini on Vesak full moon day.

COVID-19: We Need A Vaccine for The Mind

By Kalinga Seneviratne

This article is the 40th in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, the flagship of the International Press Syndicate. Click here for previous reports.

SYDNEY (IDN) – Today the global media reports daily about the race to develop a vaccine against COVID-19, but what they fail to understand is that this vaccine may not help us to overcome the severe human security crisis we face today. Rather than a vaccine for the body, we need a vaccine for the mind.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; COVID-19; 03 May 2020

US Coercive Measures Against Iran Hurting Women

Viewpoint by Azadeh Moaveni and Ali Vaez

The two writers are affiliated to the Crisis Group: Azadeh Moaveni is Project Director, Gender; and Ali Vaez is Iran Project Director. This commentary is being republished by courtesy of the Brussels-based Crisis Group which first carried it on 6 March 2020.

BRUSELS (IDN) – On 21 May 2018, less than two weeks after the U.S. withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo launched Washington’s “New Iran Strategy” before an audience at the Heritage Foundation. In his remarks, he insisted that Iranian women’s long struggle for inclusion and equality matters dearly to Washington.