By Ramesh Jaura | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis
BERLIN (IDN) – Major nuclear disarmament groups are deeply concerned over speculations whether a Russian Tupolev Tu-160 supersonic bomber, intercepted late September in British airspace, was planning to attack the country and unleash World War 3. They have urged Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama to agree to “an immediate reduction in nuclear risks”.
By International Press Syndicate | IDN-InDepthNews Report*
TORONTO (IDN) – As migrants and refugees from Africa and the Middle East continue to arrive in Europe in unprecedented numbers, a new World Bank/IMF report says that large-scale migration from poor countries to richer regions of the world will be a permanent feature of the global economy for decades to come as a result of major population shifts in countries.
By Shailendra Singh* | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis
SUVA, Fiji (IDN) – Discussions about the concept of ‘Global Citizenship’ are gaining momentum in various international forums, but remain largely unexplored in the Pacific Islands.
According to Ron Israel, co-founder of The Global Citizens’ Initiative, Global Citizens think beyond communities based on shared group identities, and see themselves as part of a larger, emerging world community.
In the Pacific, the late Tongan academic and philosopher, Professor Epeli Hau’ofa, had gone as far as proposing a common regional identify he called the “new Oceania”, comprising of people with a common Pacific heritage and commitment, rather than as members of diverse nationalities and races.
By Kalinga Seneviratne* | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis
SINGAPORE (IDN) – Making a statement during its latest session in Geneva, UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein lamented that many of their member states do not tolerate criticism and scrutiny and there is an increasing trend of governments moving to restrict and persecute voices of civil society.
“I, together with many of my colleagues at the office, feel exhausted and angry,” Zeid said. “Exhausted, because the system is barely able to cope, given the resources available to it, while human misery accelerates . . . And angry, because it seems that little that we say will change this. Unless we change dramatically in how we think and behave as international actors.”
By Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka* | IDN-InDepthNews Viewpoint
NEW YORK (IDN) – Over the past two years, Boko Haram has grown in influence and spread across the West African region with specific impacts on the rights of women and girls. The 500th day anniversary of the kidnapping of the Chibok girls in Nigeria recently passed. Despite a global movement calling for their return, most remain missing, with more women and girls abducted by Boko Haram each week. Millions have been displaced as a result of Boko Haram violence.
In light of this ongoing and deepening insecurity, UN Women welcomes the release of the report this week by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on violations committed by Boko Haram.
We underline the call to affected States and the international community to place gender equality at the heart of interventions. This is the only sustainable, systemic way to prevent and respond to the spread of violent extremism. Empowered women and empowered communities are the best defense against radicalization and further violence. We must engender counter-terrorism.
By A.D. McKenzie | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis
PARIS (IDN) – Tourists and locals walking along the River Seine, near the famed Musée d’Orsay, are currently able to charge their mobile phones at three unlikely installations: solar-powered street lamps.
By J Nastranis | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis
NEW YORK (IDN) – As part of the U.S. “rebalance to the Pacific”, the growing convergence of their respective countries’ interests in the Indo-Pacific region, and with an eye on China’s increasing assertiveness in the South China Sea, Washington has initiated a trilateral dialogue involving both India and Japan.
By Fabíola Ortiz | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis
UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – “We will be working very aggressively to achieve the goal of making the world nuclear free by 2045,” when the United Nations will mark its 100th birthday, declared Erlan Idrissov, Foreign Minister of the Central Asian Republic of Kazakhstan.
By Friday Phiri | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis
PEMBA, Southern Zambia (IDN) – Using a simple but viable 400 dollar irrigation technology derived from an unconventionally modified motorised machine powered by a 12 volt solar panel, Hosea Mwaana, a small-scale farmer of Sibbuyu Village in Pemba district, waters over one hectare of land.
By J Nastranis | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis
NEW YORK (IDN) – A new report released after the adoption of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is quite upbeat about Africa’s development prospects, but expresses serious reservations on several counts. “Having made encouraging progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), African countries have the opportunity” to use the SDGs “to tackle remaining challenges and achieve a development breakthrough,” says the report.
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