IDN-InDepthNews – Page 724 – News for a Sustainable World, Peace and Security

Sustainable Cities & Communities2016-07-012023-07-10

NEWSBRIEF: Germany Supports Green Projects in India

BERLIN (IDN) – Leading German companies have expressed interest in backing three environmental undertakings of top priority to the Government of India. These relate to rejuvenating the legendary Ganges river and supporting a national campaign to clean the streets, roads and infrastructure of the country.

Known as the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission), the campaign covers 4,041 statutory cities and towns.

A third priority campaign, called Smart Cities Mission, relates to an urban renewal and retrofitting program of the Government of India with a view to developing 100 cities all over the country and making these both citizen-friendly and sustainable.

UN INSIDER2016-06-302023-07-10

UN Faults ‘Platitudes’ as Obstacles to Middle East Peace

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – The United Nations, Russia, the United States and the European Union, known as ‘the diplomatic Quartet’, have pledged active support for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the basis of pertinent Security Council resolutions.

They also reaffirm that a negotiated two-State outcome meeting Israel’s security needs and Palestinians’ aspirations for statehood and sovereignty, ends the occupation that began in 1967, and resolves all permanent status issues is the only way to achieve an enduring peace.

Summarizing the first ever report by the diplomatic Quartet to the Security Council. the United Nations envoy Nickolay Mladenov warned that continuing violence, terrorism and incitement, settlement expansion, and the Palestinian Authority’s lack of control of Gaza are hurting the Middle East peace process.

ARMAMENTS2016-06-302023-07-10

U.S. Mayors Warn Against Largest NATO ‘War Games’

By J C Suresh

TORONTO | INDIANAPOLIS (IDN) – “The largest NATO war games in decades, involving 14,000 U.S. troops, and activation of U.S. missile defenses in Eastern Europe are fueling growing tensions between nuclear-armed giants,” the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) has warned in run-up to the 28-nation North Atlantic Alliance’s summit on July 8-9 in Poland’s capital Warsaw.

The resolution adopted by the USCM’s 84th Annual Meeting June 24-27 in Indianapolis says: “More than 15,000 nuclear weapons, most orders of magnitude more powerful than the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs, 94% held by the United States and Russia, continue to pose an intolerable threat to cities and humanity.”

CTBTO2016-06-302023-07-10

A Renewed Effort to Push the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

Analysis by Sylvia Mishra *

This article first appeared in THE WIRE. It is being reproduced as part of IDN‘s cooperation with the initiative ‘Youth for CTBTO’. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CTBT. – Editor

VIENNA – Twenty years have passed since the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) opened for signature in 1996. Since then, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) has achieved a lot – 183 states have signed the treaty and 164 have ratified it, including some but not all nuclear weapon states.

However, the United States, China, Israel, Iran and Egypt have signed but not ratified the treaty, while India, Pakistan and North Korea have not signed it. A stringent verification regime, in compliance with the treaty’s provisions, has been built and other civil applications of the treaty’s international monitoring systems (IMS) are continuously being developed.

OPINION2016-06-302023-07-10

NATO Summit After Brexit an Opportunity for Unity

Viewpoint by Karen Donfried *

WASHINGTON (IDN | GMF) – The implications of the Brexit vote are stark, not only for the United Kingdom and for the European Union, but also for the United States. Since the end of World War II, successive U.S. administrations have strongly supported the project of European economic and political integration – initially, to ensure peace among the continent’s great powers; more recently, to enlarge the area of democratic stability and economic prosperity across the continent.

For seven decades, the U.S. security umbrella, represented by the NATO Alliance, helped defend our European allies and gave them the opportunity to concentrate on building the European Community and later the European Union (EU). With the U.K. poised to leave the EU, leadership from the United States is needed to keep the U.K. and its continental partners working closely together in NATO and beyond in the aftermath of last week’s referendum.

UN INSIDER2016-06-302023-07-10

UN Expert Praises Media Initiative Focusing on Homelessness

NEW YORK (IDN) – Media can play an important role in bringing the issue of homelessness to the forefront of discussions and encourage civil engagement. With this in view, the United Nations human rights expert on housing has commended a large media initiative in the U.S. city of San Francisco.

Leilani Farha, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, said in a statement issued by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “The portrayal of homeless people in the media has a significant impact on public perception and empathy. I believe the San Francisco media push will encourage other media to report on homelessness in new ways, with a view to assessing accountability and offering solutions.”

UN INSIDER2016-06-292023-07-10

Kazakhstan’s Election to Security Council Profoundly Historic

Analysis by Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | NEW YORK (IDN) – The election of Kazakhstan as a non-permanent member of the Security Council has not come as a surprise to observers who have been witness to bold initiatives that this country in Central Asia has launched for the achievement of a nuclear-weapon-free world and sustainable development.

Yet the June 28 vote in favour of Kazakhstan, the world’s largest landlocked country, is profoundly historic. The Central Asian state bagged 138 votes in the 193-member UN General Assembly – more than the two-thirds majority of the voting member states required to win the seat on the Council.

Thailand, which currently chairs the Group of 77 comprising 134 developing countries including China, and has demonstrated its commitment to “peace and security of all peoples” and sustainable development, obtained 55 votes.

Health & Well Being2016-06-292023-07-10

Right to Health Must Prevail Over All Property Rights

By South Centre*

GENEVA (IDN-INPS | South Bulletin) – A High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines convened by the UN Secretary-General is currently considering a number of proposals to address the policy incoherence between intellectual property (IP) rights, human rights, trade rules and access to medicines.

The final report of the High-Level Panel will be submitted to the UN Secretary-General, who will present the report to the UN General Assembly to take further action.

The South Centre has made the following three contributions (Nos 67, 112 and 113) to the Panel based on the premise that the right to health for all must prevail over trade and intellectual property rules.

OPINION2016-06-282023-07-10

NATO Breaks Non-Expansion Promise

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – NATO has just announced a plan to send troops to the Alliance’s eastern flank, close to the Russian border. NATO says it is attempting to deter potential Russian aggression.

The UK, the U.S., Canada and Germany will lead four battle groups to be based in Poland and the Baltic states. Diplomats say the troops will be a deterrent to Russian aggression by acting as a “tripwire” that would trigger a full response from the alliance if necessary

On June 26, 2016 the foreign minister of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, condemned Western “sabre-rattling and war cries”. He said, “Anyone who believes the symbolic tank parades on the Alliance’s eastern border will increase security is wrong”.

Africa2016-06-282023-07-10

NEWSBRIEF: Ex Vice President Challenges Mugabe in Zimbabwe

NEW YORK | HARARE (IDN | GIN) – Zimbabwe‘s former vice president, Joice Mujuru, was the headliner at a rally in Matabeleland in one of the first public events of the new Zimbabwe People First (ZimPF) opposition party. The newly-launched campaign promptly took on the incumbent – President Robert Mugabe – in advance of elections in 2018.

Mujuru accused the government of being disinterested in the plight of the majority and promised to fight for the interests of ordinary citizens. “Zimbabwe People First is a new democratic, inclusive political party that accommodates every Zimbabwean… Please, get it from me, I am not going back to Zanu PF”.