IDN-InDepthNews

GLOBAL ISSUES2016-01-162023-07-10

Chinese President Launches A New Global Financial Order

By Kalinga Seneviratne* | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis

SINGAPORE (IDN) – Chinese President Xi Jingping officially launched on January 16 the much anticipated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) describing it as a “historic moment” while his Finance Minister Lou Jiwei said in an interview that the launch of AIIB marked a milestone in the reform of the global economic governance system.

The $100 billion China-initiated bank took just two years to set up after it was initially proposed by President Xi during his visits to Southeast Asian countries in October 2013. In October 2014, representatives from 22 countries, mainly from Asia and including India, and strong U.S. regional allies – Philippines and Singapore – a signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to establish the AIIB and Beijing was selected to host Bank headquarters.

GLOBAL ISSUES2016-01-152023-07-10

Africa Records Significant Tourist Growth But Report Calls For Caution

By Ronald Joshua | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis

ABIDJAN (IDN) – Africa has reason to rejoice at the fact that the flow of foreign tourists to the continent has quadrupled over a period of 15 years between 1990 and 2014. But as the bearer of the good news – a new report – warns, unless the African countries learn to appreciate the economic value of their wildlife and biodiversity, they would be in for trouble.

UN INSIDER2016-01-152023-07-10

UN Adopts The Nelson Mandela Rules For The Treatment Of Prisoners

UNITED NATIONS (INPS) – The UN General Assembly unanimously adopted on December 17 the revised UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (SMRs). This followed a four-year revision process after a 2010 UN General Assembly resolution, which requested revision of the SMRs “so that they reflect recent advances in correctional science and best practices”.

Given that the last stage of negotiations was hosted by the government of South Africa in Cape Town, it was decided that these revised prison standards would be known as the ‘Nelson Mandela Rules’ in order to honour the legacy of the late South African President, in prison himself for 27 years and a committed advocate for the rights of prisoners.

GLOBAL ISSUES2016-01-142023-07-10

Abu Dhabi Conference To Build On the Momentum Of COP 21

By Bernhard Schell | IDN-InDepthNew Report

DUBAI (IDN) – Government officials from over 150 countries and representatives from the private sector, civil society and international organizations are gathering in Abu Dhabi on January 16-17 for the first time after the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in December to discuss the implications of the historic Paris Agreement.

GLOBAL ISSUES2016-01-142023-07-10

‘Climate Change Constitutes A Growing Peril To Human Civilisation’

By Jutta Wolf | IDN-InDepthNews Report

BERLIN (IDN) – Humankind has become a geological force that is able to quash the beginning of the next ice age, a study published in the renowned scientific journal Nature shows. Ice ages have shaped the global environment and thereby determined the development of human civilization.

Cracking the code of glacial inception, scientists of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research found the relation of insolation and CO2 concentration in the atmosphere to be the key criterion to explain the last eight glacial cycles in Earth history.

News Media, SYNDICATION2016-01-142023-07-12

‘ISIS Is The Sanctuary For The Desperate’

“The ISIS’ allure is that it is fighting these Arab tyrants across the region, even as it fulfils the longing of its adherents to participate in a cause that is founded on their own history and traditions”

Last year, as he addressed the congregation from the pulpit of the mosque in Mosul, the self-styled caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi invited all Muslims to migrate to the Islamic State “because hijra to the land of Islam is obligatory”. Read in Japanese

UN INSIDER2016-01-142023-07-10

IRENA Builds On The Momentum Of COP 21

The gathering marks the 6th assembly of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). It will focus on the critical role of renewable energy in combating climate change and meeting other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

UN INSIDER2016-01-142023-07-10

‘Many Languages, One World Contest’ To Promote Agenda 2030

NEW YORK (INPS) – The United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) and the ELS Educational Services, Inc have launched the third edition of Many Languages, One World Essay Contest, to promote multilingualism as an integral part of global citizenship and peaceful coexistence.

The contest will qualify participants for a trip to New York to participate in the United Nations Global Youth Forum July 25-31, 2016. At the Global Youth Forum, the students will develop plans of action related to the UN’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

GLOBAL ISSUES2016-01-142023-07-10

Papuans Will See The Morning Star Flag Fly – But Not Without A Struggle

By Robert J. Burrowes* | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis

DAYLESFORD, Victoria | Australia (IDN) – It has been argued that nonviolent struggles to liberate occupied countries – such as West Papua, Tibet, Palestine, Kanaky and Western Sahara – have failed far more often than they have succeeded. But secessionist struggles that have sought to separate territory from an existing state in order to establish a new one conducted by nonviolent means have always failed.

NGOs & CSOs, SYNDICATION2016-01-132023-07-12

Greece Needs Broad Reform of Police Powers

ATHENS (INPS) – In a letter and briefing paper to the alternate minister for citizen protection, Nikolaos Toskas, Human Rights Watch has urged the Greek government to take formal steps to limit overly broad police stop-and-search powers.

Greece’s government told Human Rights Watch in December 2015 that it will amend a police circular governing the procedure for taking someone into police custody following a stop, for further confirmation of the person’s identity. But the government has not addressed gaps in the law that lead to groundless and sometimes abusive identity checks.