Home - IDN-InDepthNews | Analysis That Matters

Photo source: The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022

SDG Roadmap is the Way Forward in the Face of Global Crises

By Caroline Mwanga

NEW YORK (IDN) — The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022 of the United Nations says the climate crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic and an increased number of conflicts around the world have placed the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in jeopardy.

The report, released on July 7, highlights the severity and magnitude of the challenges, with these cascading and intersecting crises creating spin-off impacts on food and nutrition, health, education, the environment, and peace and security, and affecting all the SDGs, the blueprint for more resilient, peaceful and equal societies.

: Caroline Mwanga; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 10 July 2022

Photo: Beautiful morning view of Padma Bridge under construction, in a November Morning. CC BY-SA 4.0

Bangladesh’s New Mega-Infrastructure to Impact Ruling Party’s Popularity

By Bahauddin Foizee

DHAKA (IDN) — A historic infrastructure milestone for Bangladesh and now the longest bridge of the country, the newly-built Padma Multipurpose Bridge would now help grow Bangladesh’s GDP by 1.3% annually.

The US$ 3.86 billion worth mega-infrastructure was inaugurated on June 25 and is forecast to increase jobs, service sector activity and tourism in the country’s southwestern districts, connectivity to which was poor even a day before the opening of this bridge.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 09 July 2022

Can Millions of Lives be Saved by a Plastic Box? We think so.

By Susie Schaefer, CEO, Smile Train and Kris Torgeson, CEO, Lifebox

NEW YORK (IDN) — If you've ever needed to undergo surgery in your life, chances are you've encountered a small but ultimately forgettable device that, unbeknownst to you, played an outsized role in your survival. That tool, which costs less than a pair of Bluetooth earbuds and is about the size of a phone, is the pulse oximeter.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 08 July 2022

Photo: Ex-Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos. Source: Tagesschau

Oil-Rich Angola's Ex-President Dies After Yearlong Intensive Care

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

The following is an updated version of the story moved on June 27. - The Editor.

NEW YORK | LUANDA (IDN) — Colonial powers from east to west all played a role in subjugating the southern African nation of Angola over a stretch of 500 years until independence was achieved on November 5, 1975. Agostinho Neto, a politician, physician and poet, was the first to hold the presidency. After his death in 1979, Jose Eduardo dos Santos assumed the post. He stepped down five years ago and has been in intensive care since 2019. Aged 79, he died on July 18.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 08 July 2022

Photo: Sri Lanka in crisis. Source: Daily Times

Sri Lanka Needs a Balanced Economic and Foreign Policy

Viewpoint by Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake *

COLOMBO (IDN) — A shortage of exorbitantly privileged American Dollars, the global reserve fiat currency, which is not backed by gold, silver, oil or drugs, is the purported reason for Sri Lanka's compounding crisis and the international media narrative of 'famine' in the country.

The financial crisis that has brought the strategic Indian Ocean Island nation to a standstill, which coincidentally stymies protests, originated with an International Sovereign Bond (ISB), debt trap and Default in April this year.

: Opinion Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 07 July 2022

Photo: Submarino Nuclear Brasileiro (SNB) "Alvaro Alberto" SN10, the future SSN of the Brazilian Navy. Source: Navy Recognition.

Safeguards — Brazilian Nuclear Submarine

Viewpoint by Sergio Duarte

The writer is an Ambassador, former United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affair, and President of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs.

NEW YORK (IDN) — The public curiosity about the Brazilian nuclear-powered submarine, named “Alvaro Alberto” in honour of a nuclear research pioneer in Brazil, has raised interest in the special verification procedures applicable to the project. This is the first time that a country that does not possess nuclear weapons, such as Brazil, decides to activate such procedures for the fuel to be used in a conventionally armed submarine powered by a nuclear reactor. It is thus important to review the legal provisions of the relevant international instruments, as well as the obligations assumed by Brazil in this field.

: Sergio Duarte; OPINION; 07 July 2022

Photo: Applause after adoption of the political declaration and action plan as 1MSPTPNW ended on June 23 in Vienna. Credit: United Nations Vienna.

Let’s Eliminate Nuclear Weapons, Before They Eliminate Us

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — When UN Secretary-General António Guterres congratulated States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) on the successful conclusion of their first meeting in Vienna, his warning was dead on target.

“Let’s eliminate these weapons before they eliminate us,” he said pointing out that nuclear weapons are a deadly reminder of countries’ inability to solve problems through dialogue and collaboration.

: Thalif Deen; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 06 July 2022

Image Source: European Commission. Credit: Deutsche Welle, a German public, state-owned international broadcaster.

The War in Ukraine Triggers a New Order in the Western Balkans

By Aurora Weiss

VIENNA (IDN) —Ukraine and Moldova have moved closer to membership of the European Union (EU) much faster than the six countries of the Western Balkans. There has been general agreement that requirements for EU accession candidature are not easy to meet, but Ukraine and Moldova seem to have got that status overnight.

: Europe Editor; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 06 July 2022

Photo: Anthony Albanese being sworn in as prime minister by Governor-General David Hurley, Governor-General of Australia. CC BY 3.0

Australian PM Slated for Secret Ukraine Visit Amid Floods Back Home

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) — Australia's new Labour Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, has been criticised on Twitter and some media for secretly making a trip to Ukraine to meet Volodymyr Zelensky and pledge $100 million of military aid. At the same time, thousands of families across Australia were being evacuated from rising flood waters, with emergency services seemingly underfunded. Some families have evacuated their homes for the second or third time this year.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 06 July 2022

It's High Time for Turkey's Accession to the EU

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — Once again in the European Union, thanks to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, the discussion about admitting new members is coming to the boil and, once again Turkey, promised membership of the Union over 30 years ago, is not on the list.