Viewpoint by Sugeeswara Senadhira The writer is Director (International Media), Presidential Secretariat, Colombo. This article was first published on April 26. It is being re-published with Mr Senadhira’s permission. COLOMBO (IDN) — Exactly 35 years ago, on April 26, 1986, the biggest nuclear accident in history took place at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in […]
Sleepwalking into Nuclear War?
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden (IDN) — On April 20, US Strategic Command, the part of the military responsible for nuclear weaponry and its use, posted an official Tweet that read, “We must account for the possibility of conflict leading to conditions which could very rapidly drive an adversary to consider nuclear use as […]
COVID-19 Exposes Fault Lines on Protecting Vulnerable Workers
By Mahinda Seneviratne* SYDNEY (IDN) — As twilight approaches, Rakesh (not his real name) mounts his bicycle with a large thermal backpack over his narrow shoulders. He lost his regular job at a small suburban restaurant when the family business could not sustain itself during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown. With the recent shocking road deaths […]
South African Lawyers Sue Uber Car Service Seeking Employee Rights
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — South African law firm Mbuyisa Moleele Attorneys is partnering with lawyers at Lehigh Day, a UK law firm, to launch a class action in South Africa against the ride-hailing firm Uber. The case on behalf of drivers would recognize them as employees with benefits, rather […]
State Funeral for Leader of Chad, Embraced by Western Nations
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — European and American military leaders lost a key African ally in their fight against insurgent movements across Africa. Foreign forces face an uncertain future with the recent death of the President of the African nation of Chad. Idriss Deby Itno died on April 20 during […]
DON’T QUOTE ME: Did Coup Leaders Seek Legitimacy by Addressing the UN?
By Thalif Deen* NEW YORK (IDN) — The recent military coup in Myanmar and an attempted palace coup in Jordan harks back to the days when insurrections by armed forces came along a veritable assembly line—particularly in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia. And at least one political leader—a former Prime Minister of Thailand—was ousted […]
Top Economists Urge Solidarity to Avert Worsening of the COVID-19 Impacts
By Radwan Jakeem NEW YORK (IDN) — Eminent thought leaders in economic and social fields have called for fundamental change in the multilateral system in the spirit of international solidarity to combat the severe impacts of COVID-19. They comprise the United Nations High-level Advisory Board on Economic and Social Affairs, convened by the UN Department […]
Compelling Need To ‘End Our War on Nature”
By Ramu Damodaran The writer is Chief, United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) hosted in the Department of Global Communications. This OpEd was first published in #WhyWeCare on April 22. NEW YORK (IDN | UNAI) — “End our war on nature” was Antonio Guterres’s call at the Leaders Summit on Climate convened by President Biden this, […]
Foreign Investors Shun Nigeria, Information Minister Faults Journalists
Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of The Interview magazine based in Abuja, Nigeria. ABUJA (IDN) — Something Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said reminded me of British political journalist, Andrew Marr. Journalism, Marr wrote in his book, My Trade, is a chaotic form of earning, ragged at […]
A Counterpoint to ‘Geopolitics of the 2019 Easter Sunday Crime in Sri Lanka and Cover-Up by Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake’
Viewpoint by Muttukrishna Sarvananthan PhD* POINT PEDRO, Sri Lanka (IDN) — I have read with great interest Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake’s well-crafted conspiracy theory on the Easter Bombings in Sri Lanka in a two-part viewpoint dated November 2020 and April 18, 2021. There are a few factual inaccuracies or deliberate hyperbole to insinuate that the United States […]