By Devendra Kamarajan BRAZZAVILLE (IDN) – With more than 6,000 COVID-19 cases reported in Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed concern about the virus threatening fragile health systems on the continent. Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, said: “Case numbers are increasing exponentially in the African region” – not only between […]
IAEA Supporting Countries in the Fight against COVID-19
By Reinhard Jacobsen VIENNA (IDN) – Responding to requests for support from around 90 Member States in controlling an increasing number of infections worldwide, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is dispatching a first batch of equipment to more than 40 countries to enable them to use a nuclear-derived technique to rapidly detect the coronavirus […]
How Data-Mining Companies Are Set to Gain from COVID-19
Viewpoint by Ivan Manokha* This article was originally published on openDemocracy. Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of IDN-InDepth News. LONDON (IDN) – The current outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic may be seen as a litmus test for different institutions of contemporary society – […]
COVID-19: Sinophobia Threatening to Endanger Strengthening the Biological Weapons Convention
Viewpoint by Kalinga Seneviratne* SYDNEY (IDN) – With the spread of COVID-19 to Europe and the US a bout of Sinophobia seems to have infected the western media. On March 29, Australia’s 60-minute program – that is well known for sensational reporting – broadcast a program that portrayed China as the villain of the COVID-19 […]
The Philippines Moving to Active Middle Power Diplomacy
Viewpoint by Aileen S P Baviera* Professor Aileen Baveira died of COVID-19 in Manila on 21 March 2020. MANILA (IDN) — The Philippines was first a colony and then a formal treaty ally of the United States for so long that many Filipinos tend to take the existence of reciprocal defence obligations for granted. For […]
The Bigger Picture Is Hiding Behind a Virus
Viewpoint by Jonathan Cook*, Countercurrents.Org NAZARETH, Israel (IDN) – Things often look the way they do because someone claiming authority tells us they look that way. If that sounds too cynical, pause for a moment and reflect on what seemed most important to you just a year ago, or even a few weeks ago. Then, […]
COVID-19: Call for Freeing All Journalists Jailed Globally
By CPJ NEW YORK (IDN) – The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has launched the #FreeThePress campaign to call for the unconditional release of all jailed journalists to ensure their safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. For the past four years, CPJ’s annual census has found a record high number of journalists in jail because of […]
Trump’s ‘Pivot to Asia’ To ‘Make America Great Again’ Setting the Stage for a New Clash of Civilizations
Viewpoint by Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake The writer is a cultural anthropologist with research expertise in international political economy, peace, and development studies in South and South East Asia.* COLOMBO (IDN) – India’s capital New Delhi burned in the last week of February 2020 as US President Donald Trump pivoted to India. Visiting the world’s largest and […]
Military Intervention Alone Will Fail to Resolve the Sahel Crisis
Viewpoint by Jan Egeland and Jean-François Riffaud Jan Egeland is Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council. Jean-François Riffaud is Chief Executive Officer of Action Against Hunger-France. OSLO (IDN) — President Emmanuel Macron invited the five G5 West African leaders to the French city of Pau in January 2020 to shore up support for international […]
Update: Postponed 2020 NPT Review Conference
Viewpoint by Tariq Rauf * VIENNA (IDN) – On 30 March 2020, IDN-InDepthNews published my article, Challenge for the NAM: Move the NPT Review Conference to 2021 in Vienna, in which I had noted the announcement of the postponement of the 2020 review conference of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), scheduled to be held in […]