By Jan Servaes* BRUSSELS, 13 March 2023 (IDN) — Political hunger strikers Tantawan “Tawan” Tuatulanon, 21, and Orawan “Bam” Phupong, 23, ended their hunger strike on Saturday, March 11, after 53 days. “Tawan and Bam want to let the public know that we have ended the hunger strike to save our lives and continue fighting,” […]
Russia-Ukraine War: AI Has an Eight-Point Peace Plan
By Devendra Kamarajan NEW DELHI, 13 March 2023 (IDN) — As the fighting between Russia and Ukraine continues and a diplomatic solution does not seem to be on the cards, Vikas Swarup, a former foreign secretary at India’s External Affairs Minister and author of the bestselling book behind the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire shared the response […]
Xi Jinping: The Most Powerful Man in The World
By Jan Servaes* BRUSSELS, 12 March 2023 (IDN) — As expected, China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) clapped hands to confirm Xi Jinping’s third term as president. In March 2018, Xi Jinping had already shaken up the Chinese political system through a constitutional amendment allowing him to remain in office indefinitely.
Traditional Institutions as Springboards for Forms of Co-Governance
By Saisha Shrestha and Simone Galimberti KATHMANDU, 12 March 2023 (IDN) — Guthi, an ancient social institution of the Newari community in Nepal, if made more inclusive, could herald new ways of people-centred decision-making. Can traditional forms of community decision-making herald a new way of decision-making and therefore pave the way for a different form […]
European Parliamentarians Call for Advancing Nuclear Disarmament
By Jamshed Baruah GENEVA, 12 March 2023 (IDN) — European parliamentarians have emphasized the need for taking “concrete steps” towards nuclear disarmament so that it becomes “a priority for the year 2023”. This, they said, should be “complementary to stigmatising nuclear weapons and strengthening disarmament treaties such as the TPNW“, the United Nations Treaty on […]
Forest Elephants Enhance Carbon Capture—Keep Them Alive
By Ngala Killian Chimtom YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon, 11 March 2023 (IDN) — While African forest elephants have traditionally been thought of as playing a destructive, negative role in forests, the big munchers are now seen as critical to saving a climate in peril. Scientists now suggest that the perceived destructive nature of the African forest elephant […]
Atoll Futures — Defining Habitability
By Carol Farbotko and John Campbell* This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission. QUEENSLAND, Australia | HAMILTON, New Zealand, 10 March 2023 (IDN) — The risk of atoll uninhabitability in the context of sea level rise is a well-known issue, often simplified to assume an inevitable […]
Vanuatu’s Cyclone Destruction Makes ICJ Opinion Critical
By Kalinga Seneviratne SUVA, Fiji, 9 March 2023 (IDN) — After two destructive cyclones and an earthquake within a week, people of the small Pacific Islands state of Vanuatu are slowly picking up the pieces after the destruction from winds and rains that flooded many properties. This devastation should strengthen Vanuatu’s ongoing initiative at the […]
Israel’s Liberal Supporters Are Taking Their Denial to a New Level
By Norman Solomon* SAN FRANCISCO, 9 March 2023 (IDN) — This week, when the New York Times featured an opinion piece by billionaire Michael Bloomberg, it harmonized with a crescendo of other recent pleas from prominent American supporters of Israel.
Why Sabotage Is a Growing Form of Warfare in Ukraine
By John P. Ruehl This article was produced by Globetrotter. John P. Ruehl is an Australian-American journalist living in Washington, D.C. He is a contributing editor to Strategic Policy and a contributor to several other foreign affairs publications. His book, Budget Superpower: How Russia Challenges the West With an Economy Smaller Than Texas’, was published […]