By Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, Pablo Saavedra* With elevated debt service squeezing the space available to finance much needed investment in many countries, urgent action is needed to boost fiscal space, maintain adequate international support, and reduce debt servicing costs. WASHINGTON, DC | 5 August 2024 (IDN) — Many countries are being squeezed by increasing interest payments […]
Will the G20 Decide Minimum Tax on the Wealthiest of Our World?
By Sam Pizzigati* This article was originally published on Inequality.org , a project of the Institute for Policy Studies under a Creative Commons 3.0 License. NEW YORK | 4 August 2024 (IDN) — For the richest among us, life on Earth can sometimes get rather boring. But worry not for our world’s deepest pockets. At […]
Global Hunger Persists at High Rates — UN Target Missed
By Jaya Ramachandran ROME | 4 August 2024 (IDN) — “Zero Hunger” is second of the ambitious 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by world leaders at an historic summit in September 2015. These were to be achieved by 2030. But the distressing fact is that global hunger persists at high rates: one in eleven […]
Manila and Tokyo Ally with Washington but Keen to Strengthen Their Own Defences
By Richard Heydarian* This article is republished courtesy of Internatinal Politics and Society. Read original MANILA | 4 August 2024 (IDN) — Following years of intensive negotiations, the Philippines and Japan have consolidated their military cooperation with a new defence pact. Under the recently signed Reciprocal Access Agreement, the two Asian countries will define procedural […]
Seven-Nation Prisoner Swap Shows How Diplomacy, Not Law, Governs Exchanges
By William E. Butler* This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read original. PENNSYLVANIA | 3 August 2024 (IDN) — Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and two other Americans were freed from Russia in a prisoner exchange on Aug. 1, 2024. In total, 24 prisoners, including 12 German nationals […]
UN Forum Stresses Significance of South-South and Triangular Cooperation
By Caroline Mwanga NEW YORK | 3 August 2024 (IDN) — The 2024 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development from 8 to 17 July spotlighted the pivotal role of South-South and triangular cooperation in advancing the global development agenda. The Forum emphasized the need to strengthen and expand South-South and triangular cooperation to enhance […]
IAEA Deepens Bonds with the UN Office for South-South Cooperation
By Melissa Evans* The writer is affiliated to the IAEA Department of Technical Cooperation. VIENNA | 2 August 2024 (IDN) — The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) will launch a new series of joint activities to enhance collaboration, following an agreement signed during the recent UN […]
NATO Turns Global and Expands Theatres of Escalation
By Anuradha Chenoy* This article was published in Economic&Political Weekly (Vol. 59, Issue No. 30, 27 Jul, 2024) and is being republished with the author‘s permission. NEW DELHI | 2 August 2024 (IDN) — The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) of 32 Western countries has formally declared its security interests to be global, despite its […]
Kazakhstan and UN to Help Bolster Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones
By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | 2 August 2024 (IDN) — As the spectre of a Nuclear Armageddon haunts our planet, the Central Asian republic of Kazakhstan is joining hands with the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) to organize a workshop—first in five years—to bolster the five Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone (NWFZ) treaties. States-parties to the five […]
US Strengthens Military Bonds with Asia—with 500 million USD to Philippines
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS | 1 August 2024 (IDN) — The US is strengthening its economic and military relationships with Asian allies, including Japan and 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), comprising Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand. Brunei Darussalam, Viet Nam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia. As political and military tensions […]