IDN-InDepthNews – Page 713 – News for a Sustainable World, Peace and Security

Middle East & North Africa2016-08-022023-07-10

But for Nuclear Option Saudi Arms Purchases Increasing

Analysis by Emad Mekay

CAIRO (IDN) – Though nuclear blustering has remained hollow, Saudi Arabia has again increased its weapons imports and stood as the main catalyst for a climb of 10 percent (or $6.6 billion) in global weapons sales in 2015, according to a recent defence report. The rise is the latest sign betraying the level of anxiety in the conservative kingdom over what Saudi officials say is a threat from Iran.

The Saudis have recently been particularly rattled by the advances of Iranian foreign policy in the Middle East. Especially worrisome were the successes of Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria.

USA and Canada2016-08-022023-07-10

Young African Leaders Trained at State Department Programme

WASHINGTON (IDN | GIN) – With media attention glued to the salacious details of the U.S. election, a signature program of President Obama is flying under the radar, preparing young African leaders with advanced leadership skills to bring home to their countries.

Participants in the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders are enrolled in an intensive, six-week program on academic excellence and leadership focused on business and entrepreneurship, civic leadership, public management, and renewable energy at U.S. colleges and universities.

OPINION2016-08-022023-07-10

China: A Paper Tiger With a Burgeoning Yet Erratic Economy

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – How far behind the West is China? Is its economy still booming so it could within 20 years overtake America? Is its military becoming of such a strength it will take the big decision to confront the U.S. navy in the South China Sea?

While it is obvious that the Chinese leadership is much more farsighted and cautious than, say, Donald Trump, can one conclude with 100 % certainty that potentially dangerous clashes won’t occur?

The communist leadership believes that before long it will be the world’s biggest economy. Yet if one looks at national income per head it is way down the league table of economic achievers. Size is not everything.

Indigenous Peoples2016-08-012023-07-10

Revelations of Australia’s Abu Ghraib Force Gov’t to Act

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) – Screening of secretly filmed shocking footage of abuse of juvenile prisoners in a remote northern Australian prison by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC), renowned investigative reporting program ‘Four Corners’, has outraged thousands of Australians who took to the streets to protest and forced the government to act.

The video material filmed between 2010 and 2014 at the Don Dale youth detention centre in the Northern Territory in Australia and screened on July 25 has drawn comparisons to the treatment of prisoners in the notorious prisons run by the U.S. government in Abu Ghraib in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba.

UN INSIDER2016-07-312023-07-10

Landmark Omission in UN Resolution Disappoints G77 & China

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | NEW YORK (IDN) – Does ‘the inalienable right to self-determination for countries and peoples living under colonialism and foreign occupation’ sound relevant to the 21st century? Yes, says an overwhelming number of 193 member states of the United Nations.

It is not surprising therefore that those member states have expressed “deepest disappointment” at a landmark omission in the UN General Assembly’s resolution on ‘follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the global level’.

The resolution, which was adopted in “consensus action” on July 29, disregards reference to the inalienable right to self-determination for countries and peoples living under colonialism and foreign occupation.

OPINION2016-07-312023-07-10

Integrating Modern with Traditional Medicine

Viewpoint by Dr. Teruo Hirose *

TOKYO (IDN) – Under the influence of my father, who was a post-war liberal in Japan, senator, Vice-Minister of Education and Parliamentary Secretary when Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida signed the San Francisco Peace Treaty in 1952, I also aimed to become a diplomat to bring about peace in the societies of the world. However, I soon began to aspire to becoming a physician, which I saw as a profession that could save more lives than just one person. SPANISH | GERMAN | HINDI | JAPANESE

UN INSIDER2016-07-312023-07-10

Security Council Updated on Conflicts Causing Severe Hunger

Analysis by Jaya Ramachandran

BERLIN | ROME (IDN) – The UN Security Council is faced with a critical if not an unprecedented situation: it has been warned that “protracted conflicts affecting 17 countries” have now driven more than 56 million people into either “crisis” or “emergency” levels of food insecurity and are hindering global efforts to eradicate malnutrition.

At the same time, according to a recent report by UNEP and the World Resources Institute (WRI), about one-third of all food produced worldwide, worth around US$1 trillion, gets lost or wasted in food production and consumption systems.

Africa2016-07-302023-07-10

NEWSBRIEF: Uproar Over Star’s Attack on a Dancer in Kenya

NAIROBI (IDN | GIN) – A well-known soukous star from the Congo got a quick lesson in the evolving status of Kenyan women when he was detained and summarily deported, his performance scuttled, after he was caught striking a woman with his foot on a bystander’s cell phone camera.

In the grainy video image posted online, Koffi Olomide, age 60, his musicians and dancers are seen arriving at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Without warning, he pivots to one of his dancers and aims a vicious kick at her midsection.

Band members said he overreacted after being informed that the unidentified dancer had slapped his purported girlfriend.

Research organisations, SYNDICATION2016-07-302023-07-12

UNCTAD14 Outcome Barely Saves Minimal Finance and Development Mandates

Analysis by Aldo Caliari *

WASHINGTON DC (IDN-INPS | Center of Concern) – Due to UNCTAD‘s decidedly pro-South and uncompromising development-focused mission, its quadrennial conferences have traditionally been North-South showdowns.

Coming a few months after the adoption of the ambitious and universal 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 associated goals, the theme of the XIV Quadrennial Conference of UNCTAD (the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) was “From Decisions to Actions”.

DEVNET2016-07-302023-07-10

ESCAP Uncovers the Widening Broadband Divide

By Rakesh Jayawardene

NEW DELHI (IDN) – Despite the widely reported phenomenal growth in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in the Asia-Pacific region, a new study by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), has found that broadband capabilities and access are highly concentrated in East and North-East Asia. GERMAN | HINDI | JAPANESE | SPANISH

The report titled, State of ICT in Asia and the Pacific 2016: Uncovering the Widening Broadband Divide, also confirms that the gap between advanced and developing countries in fixed broadband access is indeed widening, and unless targeted policy interventions are put in place, the trend will continue to the detriment of future development opportunities.