IDN-InDepthNews

Asia-Pacific2012-09-202023-07-10

Pakistan Urged to Probe Abuse of Blasphemy Law

By Jaya Ramachandran
IDN-InDepth NewsReport

GENEVA (IDN) – The World Council of Churches (WCC) is urging the Pakistani government to “take realistic and solid steps to stop abuse of the blasphemy law that are causing massive human rights violations”.

The call to action emerged from three-day public international hearing on the Misuse of blasphemy law and religious minorities in Pakistan, organized by the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) from September 17 to 19 in Geneva.

Asia-Pacific2012-09-192023-07-10

Past Still Haunting China-Japan Relations

By Richard Johnson
IDN-InDepth NewsReport

LONDON (IDN) – The 81st anniversary of the so-called “Mukden Incident” that marked the 14-year long Japanese occupation of China (1931-1945), was accompanied by anti-Japanese protests on September 18, which reportedly took place in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Chengdu. These followed demonstrations on a similar scale over the weekend of September 15-16.

Africa2012-09-182023-07-10

Zambia: Mixed Reactions to Chinese Investments

By Charles Mafa*
IDN-InDepth NewsReport

LUSAKA (IDN) – China’s voracious appetite for natural resources has driven a boom of investments and aid to African countries. In the Southern African country of Zambia, Chinese companies are building roads, hospitals, sports stadia as well as reviving copper mines abandoned in the country’s Copperbelt region.

Middle East2012-09-172023-07-10

The post-Gaddafi Libya is Not Real

By Jen Alic of Oilprice.com*
IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint

WASHINGTON DC (IDN) – People often ask me why the West doesn’t attempt a Libya-style intervention in Syria. After all, things are going so well in Libya. Oil production is up. But oil production is merely a mirage, as is security in Libya, which was doomed from the day one PG (post-Gaddafi) because of the way it was “liberated”.

Last Wednesday (September 12), US envoy to Libya Christopher Stevens was killed along with three other American diplomats in a rocket attack on the US consulate in Benghazi.

Middle East2012-09-162023-07-10

Middle East: Vile Provocation No Excuse For Violent Response

By Ernest Corea*
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

WASHINGTON (IDN) – Eleven years after the murderous events that made “nine-eleven” an universally recognized description of a date of tragedy, another 9/11 has seen actions that caused destruction, public commotion and tragic loss of lives.

This year’s disturbances which began in Egypt and Libya took the form of violent demonstrations directed at American diplomatic staff and institutions. The demonstrations have spread across a wide swath of countries – at least a dozen according to some reports – in Africa and Asia.

USA and Canada2012-09-152023-07-12

Cultural Starwars at Toronto Film Festival

By Erich Walberg*
IDN-InDepth NewsReport

The ’empire’ requires a nice juicy enemy to keep people’s minds off its own sins. This year’s Toronto International Film Festival highlights the new direction in filmmaking: Iran is the enemy du jour, but at the same time it is no longer kosher to praise everything Israel does.

GLOBAL ISSUES2012-09-152023-07-10

Behind Canada Severing Ties with Iran

By Eric Walberg*
IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint

TORONTO (IDN) – Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird announced on September 7 that Canada is suspending all diplomatic relations with Iran, expelling all Iranian diplomats, closing its embassy in Tehran, and authorizing Turkey to act on Canada’s behalf for consular services there. Baird cited Iran’s enmity with Israel, its support of Syria and terrorism.

Climate Change2012-09-132023-07-10

Climate Change Severely Impacting Food Prices

By Jaya Ramachandran
IDN-InDepth NewsReport

BERLIN (IDN) – While there are hardly any signs of substantive and forward-looking agreements being reached at the United Nations climate change conference from November 26 to December 7, 2012 in Doha, latest research cautions that impact of climate change on future food prices is being underestimated.

ECONOMY2012-09-122023-07-10

‘South’ Not an Alternative Engine of Global Growth

By Martin Khor *
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

The Eurozone crisis and the slowdown of the U.S. economy is impacting China, India and major countries in South America and Africa. They are increasingly faced with deterioration in GDP growth and exports. The forecast of a “staggering rise of the South” is turning out to be a myth.

GENEVA (IDN) – Developing countries are increasingly being adversely affected by the economic recession in Europe and the slowdown in the United States. The hope that major emerging economies like China, India and Brazil would continue to have robust growth, de-coupling from Western economies and becoming an alternative engine of global growth has been dashed by recent data showing that they are themselves weakening.

Europe2012-09-122023-07-10

Poland Gets Ready for First Nuclear Power Plant

By Richard Johnson
IDN-InDepth NewsReport

LONDON (IDN) – Despite widespread scepticism about nuclear energy in the aftermath of Fukushima disaster, Poland, which is heavily dependent on coal and imported gas, has decided to go in for its first nuclear power plant.

The move comes some three decades after the the Council of Ministers passed a decree in January 1982 on the construction of the Żarnowiec Nuclear Power Plant, which would have been the first in the country. But due to changes in the economic and political situation in Poland after 1989, as well as public protests in the late 1980s and early ’90s which escalated in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster, the construction was cancelled.