Viewpoint by Chulanee Attanayake and Chirayu Thakkar This article was issued by Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission. COLOMBO | SINGAPORE (IDN) — On December 3, 2021, the South Asian headlines were dominated by the unfortunate lynching of a Sri Lankan factory manager, Priyantha Kumara. An Export Manager working in Pakistan […]
The US Conceding Alone Would Lead to Successful Negotiations
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden (IDN) — The negotiations over Iran’s supposed nuclear bomb-building abilities seem to be stuck in a rut. On December 27, they re-started once again. Given the detailed undertakings by Iran made in the agreement negotiated by the administration of President Barack Obama before President Donald Trump sabotaged it, it […]
COVID-19 and the Structural Crises of Our Time – BOOK REVIEW by Chan Kok Peng*
By Lim Mah-Hui and Michael Heng Siam-Heng SINGAPORE (IDN) — This is clearly an ambitious book spanning over 200 pages and covering the history of economic and philosophical thought, pandemics, climate change, different economic and political systems and recent financial developments. The authors’ objective is to argue that these subject matters are not separate but […]
Urban Poverty Rates in Myanmar Set to Triple, Warns New UN Survey
By Caroline Mwanga NEW YORK | YANGON (IDN) — By early 2022, nearly half of Myanmar’s 55 million population—some 25 million people—will be living below the national poverty line, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). A survey leaves no doubt that the country’s poverty headcount is likely to return to levels not seen […]
Archbishop Desmond Tutu Was a “True Humanitarian and A Committed Advocate of Human Rights” — Dalai Lama
THEKCHEN CHÖLING, Dharamsala, India (IDN) — Immediately on being informed that his “respected elder spiritual brother and good friend” Archbishop Desmond Tutu had passed away, His Holiness the Dalai Lama composed a letter to the Archbishop’s daughter, Rev. Mpho Tutu. “Please accept my heartfelt condolences,” he wrote, “and convey the same to your mother and […]
New UN Report Hopeful of Recovery in Yemen by 2047 Once the War Ends
By Radwan Jakeem NEW YORK (IDN) — Yemen, currently among the poorest countries in the world, continues to be mired in a conflict underway since 2015, which in addition to the loss of life is tearing apart livelihoods, social fabric, causing Yemen to teeter on the brink of famine, and resulting in widespread reversals of […]
UN Underlines Need For ‘Solidarity with Migrants’
By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) — Expressing solidarity with migrants on the move, “has never been more urgent”, said the United Nations Secretary-General in a message just ahead of International Migrants Day, celebrated on December 25. This year, International Migrants Day falls almost exactly 70 years since the historic Brussels conference that led to […]
Chile’s Left-wing Leader Wins Presidential Elections
Viewpoint by Yanis Iqbal ALIGARH, India (IDN) — The 2021 presidential election in Chile has resulted in the victory of the Left candidate Gabriel Boric. With nearly 56% of the vote, he has won by a margin of more than 10 percentage points—most presidents had hitherto secured only four or five point leads. In absolute […]
Stockholm Initiative Determined to Achieve the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | STOCKHOLM (IDN) — The 16-nation Stockholm Initiative for Nuclear Disarmament has urged the upcoming Tenth Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) from January 4-28, 2022, “to demonstrate political leadership, honour commitments and achievements made under the Treaty, and set ourselves on a decisive path towards a world free […]
Collective Sanctions Isolating Mali in the Sahel Sahara as Russia Rides the Wave of Anticolonialism
By Kester Kenn Klomegah* MOSCOW I BAMAKO (IDN) — The Republic of Mali, a landlocked West African state with an impoverished population, faces increasing isolation from the international community over the political power grab. Even as the African Union (AU), the continental organization, and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the regional bloc, […]