By Rodney Reynolds NEW YORK (IDN) — It is 1805, and the new Governor of the Crown Colony of Ceylon has just arrived to take up his post in the country. The Kandyan War continues unabated in the hill country and the local half-Sinhalese, half-Portuguese beauty, Lovinia, experiences the impact of these events on her […]
New Report Warns of Pervasive Financial Fraud in the Caribbean
By J C Suresh TORONTO (IDN) — A new report has warned that fraud in the Caribbean region is widespread and generates hundreds of millions of dollars in criminal proceeds yearly. The report entitled Financial Fraud in the Caribbean draws on interviews with subject matter experts from law enforcement, financial intelligence units (FIUs), financial services […]
McCarthy’s Ghost Could Haunt Biden’s Path to Renomination
Viewpoint by Norman Solomon and Jeff Cohen* SAN FRANCISCO (IDN) — These days, conventional media wisdom says that President Biden will have a smooth path to renomination if he wants it. Don’t be so sure. Fifty-five years ago, pundits scoffed when a Democratic senator announced that he was running against incumbent Lyndon Johnson for their […]
The G20 & Beyond: Nuclear Threats vs. a Growing Norm Against Nukes
By Alyn Ware The writer is the Director of the Basel Peace Office, Global Coordinator of the Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, Peace and Disarmament Program Director of the World Future Council. PRAGUE | WELLINGTON (IDN) — In January 2022, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists set the Doomsday Clock to 100 Seconds to Midnight, […]
EU Cracks a Gentle Whip at Iran
By M.K. Bhadrakumar* This article was produced in partnership with Indian Punchline and Globetrotter. NEW DELHI (IDN) — The European Union has returned to the ritual of sanctioning Iran to leverage its foreign and security policies. The highlight of the EU Foreign Affairs Council ministerial meeting in Brussels on December 12 was the imposition of […]
Fossil Fuels Cast Dark Shadow Over Tanzania’s Green Future
By Kizito Makoye DAR ES SALAAM (IDN) — Issa Abdul’s desperate urge for solar power began when he realised a smoke-spewing generator at his barber shop was costing him too much. “Solar power is very cheap. I regret spending my money on this fuel-guzzling machine,” he said. The 32-year-old barber in Tanzania’s port city spent […]
How India’s Enormous Solar Park Left the Landless Stricken
By Gareth Bryant, Devleena Ghosh, Jake Morcom, and Priya P Pillai* This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. MELBOURNE, Australia (IDN) — India, like many other countries, is looking to renewables as an antidote to soaring fossil fuel prices and to tackle climate change. Prime Minister Narendra Modi sees renewables […]
Why Not Use Money Power to Wind Back Military Spending?
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden (IDN) — The U.S. is not the only well-built actor on the Western stage. Some argue, quite understandably after the missed opportunities and mistaken steps of recent decades, that there is a lot to be said for trying to ignore the U.S. as much as possible or, at least, […]
City Mayors Urge Increased Investment to Halt Ecosystem Loss
UNEP and Other Organisations Support the Call By J C Suresh TORONTO (IDN) — Cities are on the front line of the socio-economic impacts of climate change and ecosystem loss. They play a significant role in view of the planet experiencing a decline in nature at rates unprecedented in human history—and the largest loss of […]
Three UN Agencies Call for Investments in Rural Employment
Nature-Based Solutions Could Generate 20 million New Jobs By Jaya Ramachandran GENEVA (IDN) — A joint report by three UN organisations says that 20 million jobs could be created by further harnessing the power of nature to address the major challenges facing society, such as climate change, disaster risk and food and water insecurity. According […]