By Jutta Wolf BERLIN (IDN) – Germany and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) have agreed to strengthen their partnership towards the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). During high-level strategic talks in Berlin, hosted by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) on November 26-27, Germany and UNIDO underlined […]
Middle Eastern States Are Back on The Path to A WMD Free Zone
Viewpoint by Sergio Duarte The writer is President of Pugwash and former UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs. NEW YORK (IDN) – The establishment of a nuclear weapon free zone in the region of the Middle East has been one of the most frustrating undertakings in the field of arms control and non-proliferation at the […]
Papal Visit to Japan Revives Debate About Death Penalty
By Katsuhiro Asagiri TOKYO (IDN) – An international conference “No Justice Without Life” has called on Japan to halt all executions next year, the year of the Olympic Games. Japan is one of the 56 nations which retains capital punishment, also known as the death penalty or death sentence for capital crimes. In fact, Japan, […]
Defeating Hatred: For a World Without Death Penalty
Viewpoint by Adama Dieng The following are extensive excerpts from the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, Mr. Adama Dieng, to the 12th International Meeting of Justice Ministers, on 29 November in Rome. The meeting focussed on ‘Paving the Way: Defeating Hatred for a World Without Death […]
Supreme Court Attempts to Destabilize the Pakistan Govt.
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali* FREMONT, California, USA (IDN) – The Supreme Court of Pakistan on November 28 limited the three years extension in the term of Army Chief of Staff General (COAS) Qamar Javed Bajwa to six month. A three-member court bench led by the Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, who retires in less […]
Adaptation Course for Kazakh Children Returned from Iraq
By Aidana Yergaliyeva NUR-SULTAN | BAGHDAD (IDN | The Astana Times) – Kazakhstan’s humanitarian operation on November 27 brought 14 children back to their homeland from an Iraqi prison, where they have been living for two years with their mothers. The life “after” will start for them with courses of rehabilitation at Pravo public fund’s […]
Iranian Agents Likely to Target U.S. and European Assets
Viewpoint by Syafruddin Arsyad* JAKARTA (IDN) – As the Iranian leaders are now feeling the pressure of the full sanctions on Iranian oil and the terror-designation of Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), they will try and shift much of the IRGC’s human resources and assets into Iranian intelligence service that operates under Iran’s Ministry of […]
Rajapaksa’s Election Win in Sri Lanka Exposes Bankruptcy of ‘Velvet Revolutions’
Viewpoint by Kalinga Seneviratne SINGAPORE (IDN) – International news reports about former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s rise to power in Sri Lanka project him as a human rights violator who detests democracy. But, there is an untold story behind his path to the country’s presidency that would have lessons for Asian countries in particular, who […]
Tropical African Plants Facing Extinction
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – A new study warns that a third of tropical African plants are on the path to extinction, with much of western Africa standing to lose more than 40 percent of plant diversity. Ethiopia, and parts of Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are […]
The China-India Double Helix in the Reemergence of Asia as World’s Dominant Power
Viewpoint by Manish Uprety F.R.A.S. and Jainendra Karn * NEW DELHI (IDN) – It has been posited that in the 19th century, the world was Europeanized. In the 20th century, it was Americanized. Now, it is being Asianized. But is the story of the Asian success as blossoming as it looks. There are immense challenges […]