Viewpoint by M K Bhadrakumar* NEW DELHI (IDN) — This must be a rare occasion when Russian President Vladimir Putin during his 18 years in the Kremlin came out second best in an encounter with an American president. And it had to be at the hands of President Joe Biden who has not yet completed […]
Ten Problems with Biden’s Foreign Policy—and One Solution
Viewpoint by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies* NEW YORK (IDN) — The Biden presidency is still in its early days, but it’s not too early to point to areas in the foreign policy realm where we, as progressives, have been disappointed or even infuriated. There are one or two positive developments, such as […]
Faith, Nature & the Climate Crisis: An Evaluation
Viewpoint by Fazlun Khalid Fazlun Khalid is Founder of the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences and the author of “Signs on the Earth – Islam Modernity and the Climate Crisis” published in 2019. BIRMINGHAM, UK (IDN) — As the post-colonial world emerged in the middle of the last century it left in its […]
The Nobel Peace Prize to Julian Assange Would Have Given Hope for Saving Global Democracy
Viewpoint by Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY (IDN) — In the early 1980s when I was studying mass communications in Australia, our journalism lecturer told us that as journalists we will have to hold governments to account, and to do that sometimes we may need to depend on leaks from government officials. “You should not hesitate to […]
Biden and NATO Need To Drop Their Ukrainian Obsession
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden (IDN) — “European Union and NATO allies have swung behind the Biden administration’s assessment that Russia may be poised to invade Ukraine following unprecedented sharing of US intelligence on Moscow’s military preparations”, reported Financial Times on December 6. President Joe Biden in a video link was expected to warn […]
Truth Commission Concludes Inquiry Into ‘Reign of Terror’ Under Gambia’s Former Head of State
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — A Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) in the West African nation of The Gambia has wrapped up a sweeping three-year public inquiry into the rule of former president Yahya Jammeh, an ex-military man who held the nation in his grip with torture, killings and […]
South Africa Insists on Dutch Shell Drilling in Home of Migrating Whales
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — A South African court has greenlighted plans by Royal Dutch Shell to do seismic oil exploration in a pristine coastal stretch in an area known as “Wild Coast” in Port Edward over the strenuous objections of local environmentalists. Oceans Not Oil, which describes itself as […]
US Accused of COVID-19 ‘Travel Apartheid’
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — Harsh criticism continues to be heard from Africans and their leaders against UK and U.S. travel restrictions allegedly to control the spread of the Omicron Covid-19 variant—now showing up in several U.S. states. “What is expected is a global approach, not selective,” Sarafa Tunji Isola, […]
Call for A New Deal for Development to Bridge Vaccine Divide
By Jaya Ramachandaran PARIS (IDN) — Ministers and high-level representatives from 55 developed and developing countries have proposed a New Deal for Development and stressed the urgency of bridging the vaccine divide and strengthening financing capacities in developing economies. They have called for greater international support for developing countries on the occasion of the Seventh […]
Global Agreement Defines The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence
By Caroline Mwanga NEW YORK (IDN) — A historic agreement defines the common values and principles needed to ensure the healthy development of Artificial Intelligence (AI). All the member states of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have signed the agreement. The importance of the agreement signed on November 23 is underlined by […]