By Rodney Reynolds UNITED NATIONS, (IDN) — After more than two years of on-again, off-again pandemic lockdowns, the United Nations will soon return to normal—and re-open to the public. The move comes amid reports of new infections from Covid-19, with mandatory masks still in force in New York city’s public transit systems, including buses and […]
A Negotiated Peace Alone Will End Russia’s War on Ukraine
This article was issued by CNN and is being republished with the author’s permission. Viewpoint by Jeffrey D. Sachs NEW YORK (IDN) — There is only one answer to the war in Ukraine: a peace deal. The two-pronged US strategy, to help Ukraine overcome the Russian invasion by imposing tough sanctions and by supplying Ukraine’s […]
US Urged to Restore the UN-Backed 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal
By Radwan Jakeem NEW YORK (IDN) — More than 40 former government officials and leading nuclear non-proliferation experts have expressed strong support for an agreement that returns Iran and the United States to comply with the 2015 nuclear deal. The accord between Iran and the major world powers, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of […]
Remembering ECHELON: The First International Mass Surveillance Program
By Mila Bera BELGRADE (IDN) — Ask a family member or friend how much they value their online privacy and you’ll usually get a noncommittal answer that belies their disinterest. In fact, most people don’t have a clue how much their privacy is really worth. Governments and their agencies have no such doubts; they set […]
Street Vending: Covid Seems to Have Killed a Bangkok Icon
By Pattama Vilailert BANGKOK (IDN) — Street vendors have been an iconic attraction for millions of tourists that visited Bangkok each year before the COVID-19 pandemic. In perfect tune with the Thais’ approach to enjoying life to its fullest, including eating and shopping, street vendors have set their carts in the heart of Thai people […]
The Left-Right Divide Since the French Revolution
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden (IDN) — It goes back to the French revolution of 1789. At the Revolutionary Convention the most radical of the insurgents decided to seat themselves on the left side. “Why not on the other side, the right side, the place of rectitude, where law and the higher right resided, […]
Sri Lanka: The Story of the Situation Going from Bad to Worse
Viewpoint by Alan Keenan This article was issued by the International Crisis Group and is being republished with their permission. Alan Keenan is Senior Consultant at the Crisis Group. BRUSSELS (IDN) — Protests, which had been building from late February in response to Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis in nearly 75 years of independence, have now […]
Would the New Globalization Have an Eastern Face, If Western-Led Globalization Ends?
Viewpoint by E. Ahmet Tonak and Vijay Prashad * This article was produced by Globetrotter. NEW YORK | NORTHAMPTON (IDN) — An article written by authors John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge for Bloomberg on March 24 sounded the alarm to announce the end of “the second great age of globalization.” The Western trade war and […]
Nero Is Fiddling in Milan: Sri Lanka’s Neglected Crisis of Diplomatic Representation – Part Two
This is the second in a series of two articles. Please click here for Part One. Viewpoint by ALA Azeez ROME (IDN) — In a further measure aimed to reduce the pressure on the declining foreign reserves, the foreign ministry announced over the past months, plans to close down some of Sri Lanka’s missions abroad. […]
Nero Is Fiddling in Milan: Sri Lanka’s Neglected Crisis of Diplomatic Representation – Part One
This is the first in a series of two articles. Viewpoint by ALA Azeez ROME (IDN) — In a series of political appointments made by the Sri Lankan government in the past few months even as the economic crisis was looming large, the latest one pertains to the diplomatic position of Consul General at Milan, […]