By Martin Plaut LONDON (IDN | Eritrea Hub) – The Tigray war has turned into an all-out conflict, pitting Tigrayan forces loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation front (TPLF) against Ethiopian federal troops, the Eritrean army, Amhara militia and – as revealed last week – Somali soldiers. Despite what would seem to be overwhelming odds […]
Global Buddhist Network Heralds Entry into Force of Nuclear Ban Treaty
Viewpoint by Soka Gakkai President Minoru Harada Following is the text of a press release President Harada welcoming the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) on January 22, 2021. TOKYO (IDN) – Together with the members of the Soka Gakkai worldwide, I wholeheartedly welcome the entry into force […]
New Opportunities for Aung San Suu Kyi After Elections
Viewpoint by Enze Han The writer is an Associate Professor at the Department of Politics and Public Administration, the University of Hong Kong. HONG KONG (IDN) – Amid the worsening domestic COVID-19 situation, Myanmar’s election in November 2020 brought a landslide victory for the National League for Democracy (NLD) under the leadership of Aung San […]
Faith-Based Communities Greet the Global Ban on Nuclear Weapons
By Caroline Mwanga NEW YORK (IDN) – Rejecting the existential threat to humanity that nuclear weapons pose, a wide coalition of faith-based communities from around the world has hailed the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), the first international treaty to comprehensively ban nuclear weapons. Over 160 organizations endorsed a joint interfaith […]
The Nuclear Ban Is Here. Now What?
Viewpoint by Alyn Ware The author is Director of the World Future Council Peace and Disarmament Program. He is also the International Representative of the Aotearoa Lawyers for Peace. PRAGUE (IDN) – January 22 was a historic day for the global campaign to eliminate nuclear weapons, with the entry-into-force of the Treaty on the Prohibition […]
Overcoming Vaccine Inequities and Enabling Small States’ Post-Covid19 Recovery
Viewpoint by P. I. Gomes* PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago (IDN) – The “catastrophic moral failure” into which the world is seen as heading, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), Director-General, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, can readily be understood as having its ideological basis in the callous principle of “profits before people for optimum […]
Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons – UN Chief
Reflections on the Groundbreaking UN Nuclear Ban Treaty
By Ramu Damodaran The writer is Chief, United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) hosted in the Department of Global Communications. This OpEd first appeared in this week’s #WhyWeCare, @ImpactUN on January 22. NEW YORK (IDN | UNAI) – Memory, more than modesty, made me miss mention last week of the single exclusive conversation I was privileged […]
Nuclear Weapons Are Now Banned, Prohibited, Outlawed!
Viewpoint by Tariq Rauf The writer is the former Head of Verification and Security Policy at the International Atomic Energy Agency and was a member of the Group of Eminent Persons for Substantive Advancement of Nuclear Disarmament established by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan. VIENNA (IDN) – As the day broke today, 22 […]
Asia Welcomes An “Engaging” US President Biden
By Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY (IDN) – Asian newspapers have welcomed the new American President Biden’s “engaging with the world” message in his inauguration speech to that of his predecessor Trump’s “America First” rhetoric. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has welcomed President Biden’s “engaging” tone in his speech on January 20.