By Mitsunobu Takahashi * VIENNA. 5 September 2023 (IDN) — The first session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2026 NPT Review Conference was convened from 31 July until 11 August at the Vienna International Centre in Austria. This was my first time to attend such an international conference at the United Nations. I arrived […]
Global Heatwave Tells North and South that Climate Change Is Here
Analysis by Kalinga Seneviratne SINGAPORE. 5 September 2023 (IDN) — When heatwaves hit Southeast Asia, India and China in July, breaking temperature records across Asia, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the “global boiling” era has arrived. And it didn’t take long for wildfires fuelled by high temperatures to spread across North America, Hawaii and Europe. […]
People Behind Locked Gates Die in Building Fire in Jo’burg
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | JOHANNESBURG. 5 September 2023 (IDN) — After one of the worst residential fires in South Africa’s history, little remains of the overcrowded building in Johannesburg that sheltered some 200 Africans. Some called it a death trap and a disaster waiting to happen. The fire that began […]
African Union Condemns An ‘Epidemic’ of Coups, Dismissing Citizen Claims of Misrule
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK. 5 September 2023 (IDN) — African leaders holding office for 20, 30 or 40 years after questionable elections are battening down the hatches as their grip on power and consumption of the nation’s riches seems unlikely to go unchallenged for long. This so-called “resurgence of coups” […]
Tel Aviv Riots Upend Eritrea’s Historic Ties to The Jewish Community
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | TEL AVIV. 4 September 2023 (IDN) — Violent clashes in Tel Aviv over the weekend between supporters and opponents of the Eritrean regime of Isaias Afwerki threaten to break ties between Jews and Eritreans dating back to the 19th century. Some 170 people were injured in […]
Promoting a Culture of Peace in the Digital Era Impacted by AI
By Dr Francisco Rojas Aravena* The writer is the Rector of the University for Peace (UPEACE), San José, Costa Rica. Following are his remarks at the High-Level Forum on the Culture for Peace convened on 31 August by the President of the UN General Assembly. NEW YORK. 4 September 2023 (IDN) — Peace remains elusive, […]
Realizing the UN’s Vision: Steps Toward a New Architecture for Peace
By Jordan Ryan* This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission. ATLANTA, Georgia, USA. (IDN) — Today’s world is beset by complex and interlinked global challenges—from the existential threat of climate change to rising geopolitical tensions reminiscent of the Cold War. Devastating conflicts rage internally in nations […]
Will Military Coup Leaders Show up at the UN?
By Thalif Deen* UNITED NATIONS. 3 September 2023 (IDN) — The rash of recent military take-overs in Africa was perhaps best described by French President Emmanuel Macron as “an epidemic of coups in the Sahel”—a fast spreading disease in the continent. France, a former colonial power in Africa with access to rich minerals in the […]
Albania, As UNSC Chair, To Launch Private Sector Alliance for Humanitarian Aid
By Arul Louis* United Nations. 2 September 2023 (IDN) — Albania, which holds the presidency of the Security Council this month, is planning to launch a platform for the private sector to work with the world organization in providing humanitarian assistance, according to the nation’s Permanent Representative Ferit Hoxha. On 1 September, he said that […]
China’s Shandong Province Expands Its Footprint to The Pacific
By Kalinga Seneviratne SUVA, Fiji. 2 September 2023 (IDN) — While Japan’s discharge of nuclear-contaminated waters into the Pacific from its Fukushima nuclear plant was drawing flak right across the Pacific, a high-powered delegation of Chinese ocean and marine scientists and Asia-Pacific scholars from Shandong Province visited Fiji promoting South-South cooperation to mitigate climatic change—Pacific […]