Kester Kenn Klomegah* Talks to UNAIDS Expert MOSCOW (IDN) – For over three decades, Africa has fought HIV/AIDS and is now battling another pandemic, COVID-19, that has shattered the continent’s economies. While adequate measures have been taken to halt the spread of the pandemic, Coronavirus has increased the financial burden. But HIV/AIDS experts say strengthening […]
What Is Morally Wrong With Discrimination? A Kantian Analysis
Viewpoint by Dr Sam Ben-Meir Dr Sam Ben-Meir is a professor of philosophy and world religions at Mercy College in New York City. NEW YORK (IDN) – The Supreme Court decided on June 15 that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects gay and transgender workers from workplace discrimination. Discrimination ‘because of sex’ is unlawful. […]
A Warrior for Nuclear Peace Dies But His Message Reverberates
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden (IDN) – Bruce Blair, one of the great unsung heroes of the nuclear bomb age, died on July 19 at the age of 72. In his twenties he had been an intercontinental nuclear rocket launch officer, spending his days or nights deep down in a below-ground bunker waiting for […]
Indigenous Communities of Guyana and Women in Togo Fight Forest Degradation
Viewpoint by P.I. Gomes* The writer, Dr Patrick I Gomes, was Secretary-General of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States for five years until February 29, 2020. The 79-nation inter-regional body officially became the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) on April 5, 2020. Dr Gomes was previously Ambassador of the […]
Former President Mkapa Embodied Tanzanians’ Humility, Commitment to Peace
Viewpoint by Salim Lone The writer is former Director of Communications under Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Spokesman for Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga for more than a decade and currently working on a book on Kenya in the Global Context with a focus on the UN. PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY (IDN) – Former President Ben Mkapa was […]
Tanzania’s Ex-President and Peacemaker Mkapa Dies of Malaria
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | DAR ES SALAAM (IDN) – Flags are being flown at half-mast for the former Tanzanian president, Benjamin William Mkapa, who passed away on July 24 after a bout of malaria. He was 81. He died in the early hours of July 24 while receiving treatment at […]
ESCAP, UNDP and ADB Determined to Achieve SDGs in 2030 Despite the COVID-19 Pandemic
Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana (ESCAP), Kanni Wignaraja (UNDP) and Bambang Susantono (ADB)* BANGKOK (IDN) – As lockdowns ease in countries across Asia and the Pacific in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, one thing is clear—a return to business as usual is unimaginable in a region that was already off track to meet the […]
India Confronted with ‘Infodemic’
Viewpoint by Usha M Rodrigues, Deakin University VICTORIA, Australia (IDN) – India is now the third most impacted country by COVID-19, with cases nearing 900,000 and deaths surpassing 23,000 as of July 13. India is also one of the leading nations when it comes to the sharing of ‘fake news’. By all accounts, India has […]
Australia’s COVID-19 Second Wave Blamed on Insecure Jobs
By Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY (IDN) – As a serious second wave of COVID-19 with higher daily rates of infections than in March has infected Australia, where some five million people in Melbourne are under lockdown, the Premier of the worst affected Victoria State, Daniel Andrews, has blamed the situation on insecure jobs. Andrews told a […]
Apollo to Apple Store: The American Dream
Viewpoint by Jayasri Priyalal * SINGAPORE (IDN) – On July 24, 1969, Apollo 11 lunar mission completed landing on the moon and the safe return of the three astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins. The famous Neil Armstrong’s words after landing on the moon, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap […]