IDN-InDepthNews

CTBTO2016-01-202023-07-10

Banning The Bomb With Science and Diplomacy

BERLIN | VIENNA (IDN) – The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) is organising a symposium on the role of science and diplomacy for peace and security as the first in a series of events this year to push for entry into force of a law prohibiting atomic explosions by everyone and everywhere.

The ‘Science & Diplomacy for Peace & Security’ conference is being convened from January 25 to February 4 at the Vienna International Centre, the UN headquarters in the Austrian capital, in a year that marks the 20th anniversary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).

UN INSIDER2016-01-202023-07-10

New Study Says Next Generation Remains Oblivious To Nuclear Dangers

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – For over 70 years since the disastrous bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, peace activists have continued their relentless global campaign for a world without nuclear weapons.

The United Nations, which has remained engaged in a longstanding debate, continues to adopt scores of resolutions every year on nuclear disarmament.

And in December, not surprisingly, the 193-member General Assembly wrapped up its 2015 sessions adopting 57 draft resolutions on arms control and disarmament – 23 of which were on nuclear weapons.

Africa2016-01-202023-07-10

Library in Mozambique Brightens Reality of American Life

NEW YORK | MAPUTO – At the Centro Cultural Americano in the Mozambican capital of Maputo, there is a trove of books in the Martin Luther King library that tell the American story with some offerings touting a mythological tolerance, belied however by the fierce struggles in the U.S. over race, religion and immigration.

Materials provided by the U.S. Embassy to the Centro Cultural include an article titled ‘Unity Through Diversity: The American Identity’. In it, DC-based author Samier Mansur writes: “American’s capital pays homage to the intellectual achievements of Muslims… The U.S. is not only a nation born of diversity, but one that thrives because of diversity. And this is not by accident, but by design.”

Africa2016-01-202023-07-10

Ghana Think-Tank Questions Major Shortfall from Gold Sales

NEW YORK – Ghana’s abundant resource in gold produced $23 billion in earnings from 2013 to 2016 but only $1.7 billion for the country’s coffers, according to a newly-released report by the African Centre for Energy Policy in Ghana

Titled ‘Golden Days for Newmont’, the report said the U.S.-based Newmont Mining Corporation paid less than $500 million (US) in taxes to the government of Ghana from 2003 to 2012.

The yawning gap between export earnings and royalties to the government was documented as far back as 2008. Gold accounted for 40% of exports in that year, with a value of $2.2 billion, whereas government received only $116 million in taxes and royalties from mining firms, which is less than 4% of the country’s total tax take, according to The Economist news magazine.

Africa2016-01-202023-07-10

Cobalt for Smartphones Mined by Children in the DRC

NEW YORK – Children as young as seven haul cobalt for foreign companies operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The mineral ends up in smartphones, cars and computers made by such brands as Apple, Microsoft and Vodafone, according to claims by Amnesty International in a new report.

Children carrying back-breaking loads and working in intense heat receive between one or two dollars a day. They work without face masks or gloves, the investigators reported, and are beaten by security guards employed by mining companies.

UN INSIDER2016-01-192023-07-10

Ban Ki-moon Appoints 17 Eminent Advocates to Achieve 17 SDGs

NEW YORK – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed a group of eminent persons to assist in the campaign to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) the world leaders unanimously adopted in September 2015.

They include a queen, a crown princess, a president, a prime minister, a Chinese e-commerce pioneer, and a player often ranked as the world’s best footballer.

With a mandate to support the Secretary-General in his efforts to generate momentum and commitment to achieve the SDGs by 2030, the newly named SDG Advocates will add powerful voices to spur action on the visionary and transformational sustainable development agenda. The 17 SDGs aim to end poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change, while leaving no one behind.

ARMAMENTS2016-01-192023-07-10

New Study Says Next Generation Remains Oblivious To Nuclear Dangers

By Rodney Reynolds | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis

The United Nations, which has remained engaged in a longstanding debate, continues to adopt scores of resolutions every year on nuclear disarmament.

Individual Journalists, SYNDICATION2016-01-192023-07-12

Peace is a Long Shot in Afghanistan, But Well Worth Trying

LONDON – The so-called Quadrilateral Coordination Group – comprising representatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the U.S. – met in Kabul on January 18 to hold discussions on a roadmap to peace in Afghanistan.

A former Taliban senior official said that “military confrontation is not the solution” and that a “political solution” was needed to end the war in Afghanistan. “The motivation for peace talks was very weak in the past,” Mohammad Hassan Haqyar said. “But now the situation has changed and the parties seem to have a readiness for dialogue.”

Asia-Pacific2016-01-192023-07-10

Digital India Has Much To Attract China

By Shastri Ramachandaran* | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis

BEIJING (IDN) – Although India and China are politically, culturally and economically different, the two countries have much more in common than the border and Buddhism. India’s economy, for one, is very much on a China-like trajectory. That has been so since the economic reforms piloted by Manmohan Singh as Finance Minister after P V Narasimha Rao became India’s Prime Minister in 1991.

Climate Action2016-01-182023-07-10

UNFCCC Chief Praises UAE Founder’s Vision at Crown Prince’s Court

ABU DHABI – The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has abundant opportunities to diversify its economy away from oil as a result of the impulse of the Paris Agreement, the head of the UN climate convention said to a distinguished audience at the Court of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

Addressing the Court, Christiana Figueres said opportunities ranged from displacing coal on world markets via low cost gas supplies to ramping up the global deployment of renewable energy.