By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) — UN Secretary-General António Guterres has made his “good offices” available for a peaceful solution to the looming “disastrous confrontation over Ukraine between Russia and Western countries of the NATO alliance”, pledging he “will remain fully engaged in the hours and days to come” and will “leave no stone […]
Civic Rights for Foreign Residents Sparks Backlash in Japan
By Yasuo Takao This article was issued by East Asia Forum on February 12. The writer is an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at the School of Media, Culture and Creative Arts, Curtin University, Perth, Australia. PERTH (IDN) — The number of foreign residents living in Japan has dramatically increased in the past decade, marking a […]
The Doubling of Joint UN Fund Will Boost Sustainable Development
By Radwan Jakeem NEW YORK (IDN) — In the race to 2030, the United Nations Joint SDG Fund has been doubled to $114 million as a result of an additional US $54.5 million in investments for projects in five countries, to try and get the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) back on track. Selected from a global […]
Famed Ugandan Novelist Claims Torture in Detention
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — A human rights watchdog group is calling on the government of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to investigate claims by internationally acclaimed writer, Kakwenza Rukirabashaija, that he was severely tortured while in detention for his social media postings. Human Rights Watch called the arrest of the […]
Combat Troops March in The DRC After Attempted Coup d’état
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — The Democratic Republic of Congo is the latest African nation to face an attempt to overthrow the government, allegedly by a government official. In the first official comment since reports of the failed coup plot emerged five days ago, a spokesman for President Felix Tshisekedi […]
Australia: Failed Anti-Religious Discrimination Bill Criticized for Promoting Discrimination
By Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY (IDN) — A controversial Anti-Religious Discrimination Bill that was strongly supported by conservative Christian groups, an important vote bank for Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s ruling coalition, failed to pass the lower house of parliament when five government backbenchers crossed the floor to vote against the government, by supporting an amendment to […]
Sri Lanka-Russia Relations: Epitome of Unfeigned Diplomacy
By Somar Wijayadasa* NEW YORK (IDN) — Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) gained its independence in 1948, but it was only on 19 February 1957 that Mr S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, then Prime Minister of Ceylon established diplomatic relations with the former Soviet Union (now Russia)—a superpower at the time, and today a global power. […]
India Trapped on A Tightrope in Big Power Games
Viewpoint by Shastri Ramachandaran * This article was issued by WION and DNA, and is being re-published with the writer’s permission. NEW DELHI (IDN) — India’s diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in Beijing this week was another balancing act of a piece with its position on Ukraine in the UN Security Council meeting last […]
West’s Double Standards on Human Rights Undermines UN Human Rights Council
Viewpoint by Sugeeswara Senadhira COLOMBO (IDN) — The United States, Britain, Canada and a few other Western so-called champions of human rights will press their unreasonable demand at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) next month to initiate an international probe into alleged human rights violations in the last phase of the separatist war […]
24 Experts Outline Plan for Defusing Russia-NATO Crisis
Arms Control Is Key to the Solution By Daryl G. Kimball and Oliver Meier Daryl G. Kimball is the Executive Director of the Arms Control Association. Olivier Meier is a Senior Researcher at the Berlin office of the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg (IFSH). WASHINGTON, D.C. | HAMBURG […]