By Aleksandra Gadzinski KATOWICE (IDN) – Independent experts of the UN Human Rights Council, are calling on States to fully integrate human rights standards and principles in the rules for implementing the Paris Agreement on climate change (the Paris Rulebook) adopted by the international community. In the run-up to the 70th anniversary of the Universal […]
Sri Lanka’s Heroic Freedom Struggles of 1818 and 1848 – Part 3
By Dr. Palitha Kohona The author is former Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations, and former Foreign Secretary. The following is Part 3 of the text of his keynote address delivered at Sri Lanka’s University of Peradeniya, Kandy, on 26 November 2018. – Click here for Part 1 and Part […]
Gap Widens Between Ambition and Action To Combat Future Climate Risks
By Aleksandra Gadzinski KATOWICE (IDN) – Climate consciousness across the globe is on the rise. But a new report has found a considerable gap between countries’ preparedness for climate change and the actual measures put in place to prepare communities for a future of increasing climate risks. The fourth edition of the UN Environment’s Adaptation […]
Der Mord in Istanbul ist ein Fall zu Gunsten Irans geworden
Von Morteza Raissi BONN (IDN) – Die Lage für Saudi-Arabien zur Lösung des Konfliktes in Jemen und herabsetzen des Problems im Nahen-Osten ist eng geworden. Es ist für die Saudis peinlich ohne sichtbaren Erfolg aufzugeben und so Platz für den gefährlichen Rivalen Iran zu machen. Man versucht die erreichten Koalitionen beizubehalten. Am 2. Oktober dieses […]
Israel Welcomes Nauert as Haley’s Successor at the UN
By Bernhard Schell DUBAI (IDN) – Israel has hailed U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement that he will nominate former Fox news reporter and current State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert to be the U.S. ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations headquarters in New York, according to agencies and The Times of Israel. Nauert will […]
Ghanaian Inventor Eases Children’s Access to Schools Across Rivers
By Devendra Kamarajan ACCRA (IDN) – A young inventor, Frank Darko, has designed a water cycle to help Ghanaian children living in villages throughout the Volta region reach schools. Currently, they must swim or wade through at least one river every day to get to the nearest school. This is particularly dangerous during the rainy […]
Silk Road: A Debt ‘Trap’ or an Opportunity for the West Joining China to Assist Developing Countries?
By Dr. Palitha Kohona The author is former Foreign Secretary and former Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations. COLOMBO (IDN) – “Any conflict between the U.S. and China, including a trade war, would do irreparable damage to both, not to mention the rest of the world. However, the two giants have a unique opportunity […]
UN Specialised Agency IFAD Joins 79-nation ACP to Rescue African Agriculture
IDN interviews IFAD President Gilbert Houngbo By Jeffrey Moyo HARARE (IDN) – Smallholder rural farmers in Zimbabwe are set to benefit from international funding intended to improve access to inputs, irrigation and the adoption of smart farming practices in the face of predicted El Nino-induced drought. On the first visit to Zimbabwe of a president […]
It is High Time for the U.S. and Russia to Get Off the Treadmill to Catastrophe
Viewpoint by Daryl G. Kimball The author is Executive Director of the Arms Control Association. He wrote this editorial for the December issue of Arms Control Today. WASHINGTON, DC (IDN-INPS) – Earlier this year, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that “[t]he Cold War is back…but with a difference. The mechanisms and the safeguards to manage […]
Let’s Train Humans First … Before We Train Machines
Viewpoint by Hazel Henderson* JACKSONVILLE, Florida (IDN) – We humans are at the absurd stage in our technological evolution when we seem to have abandoned our common sense. Billions are spent by governments, corporations and investors in training computer-based algorithms (i.e. computer programs) in today’s mindless rush to create so-called “artificial” intelligence, widely advertised as […]