IDN-InDepthNews

GLOBAL ISSUES2015-12-212023-07-10

The Fuel Economy of Santa’s Sleigh

By Michael McDonald* | IDN-InDepthNews Feature

LONDON (IDN) – Every year around the world, hundreds of millions of children wait anxiously for Santa Claus to arrive and bring presents and good cheer. But what if Santa never came? What if this year the reindeer all fall ill, perhaps due to Crazy Reindeer disease (the analog to Mad Cow) and Santa is forced to cancel Christmas? The result would be devastating.

Fortunately, for any children reading, official word from the North Pole is that Santa’s sleigh has some new upgrades this year that allow it to run on good old fashioned jet fuel if the reindeer fail. And with the current glut of oil around the world, fuel prices are so affordable that even if the reindeer are feeling up to their usual task, Old Saint Nick might just give them the night off and choose to fly with fuel nonetheless.

So how much oil does Santa need for his rounds on the night of the 24th?

GLOBAL ISSUES2015-12-212023-07-10

Celebrating the Victory of Light over Darkness

By Firouzeh Mirrazavi* | IDN-InDepthNews Feature

TEHRAN (IDN | Iran Review) – Iranians around the world celebrate Yalda, which is one of the most ancient Persian festivals. The festival dates back to the time when a majority of Persians were followers of Zoroastrianism prior to the advent of Islam.

On Yalda festival, Iranians celebrate the arrival of winter, the renewal of the sun and the victory of light over darkness.

Considered the longest night of the year, Yalda eve is the night when ancient Iranians celebrated the birth of Mithra, the goddess of light.

Yalda, which means birth, is a Syriac word imported into the Persian language. It is also referred to as Shab-e Chelleh, a celebration of winter solstice on December 21 – the last night of fall and the longest night of the year.

Other Intergovernmental Organisations (IGOs)2015-12-202023-07-10

Developing Countries ‘Bite the Bullet’ in Nairobi

NAIROBI (IDN) – If India and other developing countries, including the 79-nation African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of states had insisted that the World Trade Organization (WTO) Conference – the first on African soil – must reaffirm the focus on development and the ‘Doha Development Agenda’ (DDA), it would have concluded without an outcome document.

However, despite disappointment and strong reservations expressed by India and by representatives of the ACP Group, the conference endorsed the Nairobi Ministerial Declaration (NMD).

GLOBAL ISSUES2015-12-202023-07-10

Developing Countries ‘Bite the Bullet’ in Nairobi

By Devendra Kamarajan | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis

However, despite disappointment and strong reservations expressed by India and by representatives of the ACP Group, the conference endorsed the Nairobi Ministerial Declaration (NMD).

Asia-Pacific2015-12-192023-07-10

Asian Scholars Crafting A Non-Adversarial Approach To Journalism

BANGKOK (IDN) – While a ‘Mindful Communication’ fad is currently sweeping across the United States, a group of Asian scholars and media practitioners gathered here to examine how this traditional Asian way of communication could be adopted to train 21st century journalists to create a media that would promote harmony rather than conflict.

Phuwadol Piyasilo Bhikku, a communication arts graduate from Chulalongkorn University and a former journalist, who is now a Forest Monk in northern Thailand, in an opening speech to the symposium noted that mindfulness practiced in the West is “a bit problematic”, because it is used mainly on an individualistic level to de-stress.

GLOBAL ISSUES2015-12-192023-07-10

Asian Scholars Crafting A Non-Adversarial Approach To Journalism

By Kalinga Seneviratne* | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis

Women2015-12-192023-07-10

UN Sees Opening For Women in Political Space in Saudi Arabia

NEW YORK (INPS) – Saudi women were able to cast votes and run for seats in municipal elections for the first time in Saudi Arabia, representing an opening for women in the political space. This is the latest in a series of steps the Kingdom has taken toward women’s rights, following the 2013 decision of the late ruler of Saudi Arabia His Highness King Abdullah Bin Abdelaziz Al Saud to grant 30 seats to women in the Shura Council.

GLOBAL ISSUES2015-12-182023-07-10

IMF Does Not Trigger ‘Bread Riots’ But Sticks to Old Policies

By Ronald Joshua | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis

BERLIN (IDN) – Hundreds of thousands of poor people joined spontaneous “bread riots” in most major cities in Egypt back in 1977, protesting termination of state subsidies as dictated to the country’s government by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Those uprisings, which were crushed by the army, underlined the callousness with which the two organizations enforced their aggressive policies of liberalization, turning a blind eye to the sufferings of the people.

Other Intergovernmental Organisations (IGOs)2015-12-182023-07-10

IMF Does Not Trigger ‘Bread Riots’ But Sticks to Old Policies

SUSTAINABILITY2015-12-172023-07-10

Trillions Needed to Help Countries Deliver on Climate Commitments

WASHINGTON (IDN) – Trillions, not billions, are required to transition to a low carbon and resilient economy and to prevent more than 100 million people, particularly in Africa and South Asia, being pushed back into poverty over the next 15 years, says the World Bank.

The World Bank Group has committed to increasing the share of its portfolio devoted to climate finance, from the current 21 percent, to 28 percent, over the next five years. “When including financing generated from other partners and associated private sector financing, such financing would amount to a potential $29 billion a year by 2020.”