IDN-InDepthNews

By J C Suresh | IDN-InDepthNews Report

WASHINGTON (IDN) – The United States is “strongly committed to the prosperity, sovereignty, stability, and security of the five Central Asian countries as well as a vision of regional economic connectivity through its New Silk Road initiative,” says the Office of the Spokesperson of the U.S. State Department.

By Kalinga Seneviratne* | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis

The guidance note on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering of Financing of Terrorism helps charities familiarize themselves with how they may protect themselves from potential abuse related to money laundering or terrorist activities.

SINGAPORE (IDN) – Over the centuries, all great religious leaders and philosophers, including Jesus Christ, have drawn attention to the evils of excessive greed and taught honesty and integrity to overcome it. The guilty verdict by a Singaporean court in October, convicting six leaders of a large Christian Evangelical Church in a 36 million U.S. dollar fraud case, has raised question marks on whether so-called Mega Churches with thousands of devout followers generously donating to their coffers are a business or a religion?

By Roberto Savio | IDN-InDepthNews Viewpoint

ROME (IDN | Other News) – The recent elections in Switzerland and Poland are good indicators of what will happen elsewhere in Europe in the face of an irresistible growing wave of refugees. But let us first consider a few key elements.

First, the present system of international relations and national governance is not functioning any longer. We are in a period of transition, but nobody knows to where. The Left is without a manifesto, and the Right is just riding the status quo. There is no long-term political thinking.

Second, we are living in a “new economy,” based on the supremacy of finance over man’s production. Unelected officials, like governors of central banks and bankers, have increasingly more power than ever before. This “new economy” considers job insecurity and lay-offs as natural, social inequality as a legitimate reality, the market as the sole basis for societal development and the state as inefficient and a brake on the private sector.

By Rodney Reynolds | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis

NEW YORK (IDN) – The UN’s post-2015 development agenda, which includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is desperately in need of funds for its successful implementation. The goals include an ambitious target: the elimination of hunger and poverty worldwide by 2030.

By A.D. McKenzie | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis

PARIS (IDN) – Since the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals in September, global citizenship education has been receiving increased attention for the role it can play in both sustainable development and in keeping youth from joining the ranks of “violent extremists”.