By Neville de Silva* LONDON, 5 May 2023 (IDN) — Sri Lanka’s stand-in president Ranil Wickremesinghe is no Julius Caesar. But he is ready to cross his own Rubicon as he must. For time is running out fast for him after almost 50 years in politics and slowly nudging his 75th birthday.
The U.S. Has Problems Adjusting Sensibly to a Multipolar World
This article was issued by the CODEPINK and is being republished with the permission. By Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies* NEW YORK, 4 May 2023 (IDN) — In his 1987 book The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, historian Paul Kennedy reassured Americans that the decline the United States was facing after […]
Implications of the Fraying of the Liberal International Order for Policy Oriented Research
By Ramesh Thakur* This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission. CANBERRA, Australia, 4 May 2023 (IDN) — For several years now many analysts have commented on the looming demise of the liberal international order constructed at the end of the Second World War under US leadership.
Hunger & Starvation Threaten Quarter of a Billion People Worldwide
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, 4 May 2023 (IDN) — A new report on world hunger by the Global Network Against Food Crises (GNAFC) is a setback to the UN’s highly-publicized goal of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger by 2030—an integral part of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Far from achieving progress in the […]
Africa Pays High Interest Rates for Private and Chinese Loans
By Jutta Wolf BERLIN, 4 May 2023 (IDN) — African countries pay much higher interest rates to foreign bondholders and Chinese lenders than to international financial institutions such as the World Bank, says Germany’s eminent Kiel Institute for the World Economy. Besides, the hiatus in borrowing conditions has grown over the past ten years, suggesting […]
Indian State Elections: Ruling BJP Vows to Eradicate Manual Scavenging
Special IDN SDG News Feature* BENGALURU, India, 3 May 2023 (IDN) — India’s southern state of Karnataka is due to go to the polls on May 10, and sustainable development goals (SDG) issues such as sanitation, food security and free nutrition for the poor, free housing sites for the homeless and free cooking gas cylinders […]
UNESCO Needs to Rethink Freedom of Expression
Viewpoint by Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY, 3 May 2023 (IDN) — At a time when the West has weaponised human rights, the United Nations body that promotes freedom of expression need to rethink what it means. Every year UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation) mark World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) on May 3 with […]
Zimbabwe Government is Muzzling Politically Conscious Artists
By Farai Shawn Matiashe HARARE, 3 May 2023 (IDN) — As a crucial election approaches, President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s regime is in overdrive cracking down on politically conscious musicians who encourage people to register to vote and sing against corruption. The southern African nation is set to hold its general elections in August this year.
Sri Lanka — The Status Quo Resumes?
By Charles Seevali Abeysekera BROMLEY, UK, 3 May 2023 (IDN) — Fast forward the clock nine months and the country appears to have got through the worst with funds being provided by friendly donor countries and more recently by the IMF. A semblance of normality has returned or so it appears on the surface.
Bush’s “Mission Accomplished,” 20 Years Later
By Norman Solomon* SAN FRANCISCO, USA, 2 May 2023 (IDN) — Twenty years ago, President George W. Bush landed in a twin-engine Navy jet on an aircraft carrier, strode across the deck in a bulky flight suit and proceeded to give a televised victory speech under a huge red-white-and-blue banner announcing “Mission Accomplished.”