By Kalinga Seneviratne This article is the 29th in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate. Click here for previous series. BODHGAYA (IDN) – In recent years the Indian government has been promoting the concept of a ‘Buddhist Tourism Circuit’ (BTC) with Bodhgaya – the […]
Ushering in an Era of Peace and Disarmament
By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | TOKYO (IDN) – “Amid the continued escalation of global challenges, crises that were previously unthinkable are now becoming reality throughout the world.” This is the backdrop to a wide-ranging proposal eminent Buddhist philosopher, educator, author, and nuclear disarmament advocate Dr. Daisaku Ikeda has put forward. ‘Toward a New Era of […]
Women Leaders Call for Gender Equality and Inclusion
By Caroline Mwanga NEW YORK (IDN) – In the lead up to International Women’s Day on March 8, twenty-six high ranking female officials who have worked across the United Nations have penned an open letter to world leaders calling for greater investment in policies and legal and social frameworks to achieve gender equality and inclusion. […]
Ghana Hosts Africa Climate Week as First of Three Regional Climate Events
By Rita Joshi BONN (IDN) – The Africa Climate Week, which is being hosted by Ghana from March 18–22 in Accra, is the first of three annual regional climate events this year – the latter two being the Latin America & Caribbean Climate Week and the Asia Pacific Climate Week. According to the Secretariat of […]
‘Think Equal, Build Smart, Innovate for Change’ on International Women’s Day
By Caroline Mwanga NEW YORK (IDN) – UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka has stressed the need for “transformative shifts, integrated approaches and new solutions” to achieve gender equality, as envisaged in Goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals, the road map for a sustainable future by 2030. “Current trajectories show existing interventions do not […]
Soft- and Hard-Power Challenges in China-India Diplomacy
Viewpoint by P S Suryanarayan The writer is a Visiting Senior Fellow with the South Asia Programme, S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore and the author of ‘Smart Diplomacy: Exploring China-India Synergy’ (2016). The author’s views are his own and do not represent the position of any institution. […]
The Long Walk from World Social Forum to World Party
Viewpoint by Roberto Savio The writer is publisher of Other News, a vehicle for “voices against the tide”, and founder of IPS-Inter Press Service News Agency. This article is being reproduced courtesy of Other News with the writer’s permission. He can be contacted at utopia@robertosavio.info and his articles and comments can be read on Facebook @robertosavioutopia ROME (IDN) […]
Australia Increasingly Silent on U.S. Leadership in Asia
Viewpoint by Hugh White The writer is Emeritus Professor in the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, The Australian National University. EastAsiaForum carried this article on 18 February 2019. A version of this analysis was first published in The Straits Times. CANBERRA (IDN-INPS) – Sometimes what is left out of a major policy speech is as […]
Beyond the Second Trump-Kim Nuclear Weapons Summit
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Kim Jong-un, paramount leader of the North Korean dictatorship, arrived in Vietnam by train and limousine ready to meet President Donald Trump. The two leaders met in June 2018 in Singapore, applauded themselves and each other and made some sort of a deal even if it wasn’t […]
Unrest Deepens Across East Africa and Africa’s ‘Horn’
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – Instability is growing in the East African nations of Sudan and South Sudan while the U.S. pursues a military solution to a decades-long civil war in Somalia. Recent U.S. bombing raids are claiming 35 al-Shabab victims in the Hiraan region of central Somalia, the U.S. […]