|
|
Published by The Non-profit International Press Syndicate Group
with IDN-InDepthNews as the Flagship Agency
Dear Reader,
We are pleased to send you Edition 44 | 2020 of BEYOND BREAKING THE NEWS, a flagship news product, now in the fifth year, meanwhile published every Monday by the Non-Profit International Press Syndicate Group, with registered offices in Canada, Germany, Japan and Singapore, and correspondents around the world. Previous editions are available on https://newsletter-archive.indepthnews.net. Read. Share. Publish; free of charge but mention us as the source. We would appreciate your Feedback.
Kind regards from the Non-Profit
International Press Syndicate
By Thalif Deen *
NEW YORK (IDN) – Responding to a question, Albert Einstein, the German-born physicist who won the 1921 Nobel Prize for Physics, predicted rather ominously: “I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”
Einstein, who regretted the marginal role he played in the creation of the atomic bomb, was implicit in his warning of a world going back to a pre-historic stone age — in case it is annihilated by nuclear weapons in a third world war.
Read More
Viewpoint by Dr Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake
The writer is an anthropologist affiliated with the International Center for Ethnic Studies in Colombo. Read also A Hybrid Cold War Unfolding in The Indo-Pacific Beneath the Covid-19 Mask.
COLOMBO (IDN) – Like the Chagossians who were forcibly displaced to Mauritius and Seychelles, Sri Lankan and other Indian Ocean Rim coastal communities tend to experience high rates of poverty, debt and socioeconomic hardship. Fisheries are one of the most significant renewable resources that Indian Ocean countries possess to secure food supplies, maintain livelihoods and assist economic growth, in addition to non-living resources that include hydrocarbon, liquefied natural gas and valuable minerals.
Read More
Viewpoint by Dr Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake
The writer is an anthropologist affiliated with the International Center for Ethnic Studies in Colombo.
COLOMBO (IDN) – The Covid-19 narrative has colonised the world, shutting down the global and local economy and society, with a face mask as its telling symbol.
In strategically located Sri Lanka, more people have died of random elephant attacks or in car accidents than from Covid-19, which has claimed a grand total of fifteen lives in the past year on this island of just over 21 million people.
Read More
Viewpoint by Vincent Casey
The writer is Senior WASH Manager – Water, WaterAid UK
LONDON (IDN) – WaterAid’s newly released water security research has uncovered an alarming lack of global governance and grave mismanagement of the world’s precious groundwater reserves, needlessly putting millions of lives at risk.
Hundreds of millions of people rely on groundwater for their daily water needs. As global populations continue to grow and climate change threatens water security, groundwater extraction seems the obvious answer to boosting food production and industry.
Read More
Parliamentarians Pledge Partnership for Global Stability
By Kester Kenn Klomegah*
MOSCOW (IDN) – Parliamentarians of five BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) have pledged to join hands in combating COVID-19, facing the challenges and threats that each member state currently faces, and strengthening cooperation, including at the inter-parliamentary level.
In view of the coronavirus pandemic, the Sixth Parliamentary Forum on October 27 was organized via video conference. Its main theme was "BRICS Partnership for Global Stability, Shared Security and Innovative Growth: parliamentary dimension".
Read More
Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana
Ms. Alisjahbana, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) was Professor of Economics at Universitas Padjadjaran in Bandung, Indonesia.
BANGKOK (IDN) – This year, the United Nations is marking its 75th anniversary – a milestone of extraordinary economic and social progress in Asia and the Pacific. While the Organization enjoys a lifespan almost equal to the world’s improved average life expectancy, the future lies with those who have recently embarked on theirs: our young people.
Read More
Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene
The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-In-Chief of The Interview magazine based in Abuja, Nigeria.
ABUJA (IDN) – If Donald J. Trump were president of Wakanda on the eve of an election, that country would have received several warnings from the US State Department on the need for free and fair polls, and the necessity for all parties to play by the rules. [Wakanda a fictional country appearing in American comic books.] But what is playing by the rules if parties will not accept an orderly transfer of power?
Read More
An affront to the Independence of the Judiciary and American Democracy
Viewpoint by Somar Wijayadasa*
NEW YORK (IDN) – The United States Senate confirmed President Donald Trump’s nominee, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, as a Justice of the Supreme Court. Despite the partisan rancor, Barrett’s confirmation was a forgone conclusion. The Court now has a conservative majority of 6-3 that could fundamentally reshape America. More on this later.
This year 2020 may go down in modern history as the worst year ever that faced an extraordinary set of challenges.
Read More
The following is the text of the Statement by Setsuko Thurlow, a survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and long time campaigner for nuclear-weapons abolition, as the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) reached the 50 states parties required for its entry into force. ICAN, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons published the Statement on its website.
NEW YORK (IDN) – The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons has entered into force! This truly marks the beginning of the end of nuclear weapons! When I learned that we reached our 50th ratification, I was not able to stand. I remained in my chair and put my head in my hands and I cried tears of joy. I have committed my life to the abolition of nuclear weapons. I have nothing but gratitude for all who have worked for the success of our treaty. I have a powerful feeling of solidarity with tens of thousands of people across the world. We have made it to this point.
Read More
The following is text of the Statement of Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy (LCNP) and Western States Legal Foundation (WSLF) are affiliates of the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA), a partner of the2017 Nobel Peace laureate International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).
NEW YORK (IDN) – Fifty states have ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). By its terms, the treaty will enter into force in 90 days, becoming legally binding for states that have joined the treaty.
Read More
ULAANBAATAR (IDN) – Blue Banner, Mongolian NGO and a partner organization of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), welcomes the 50th ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) on October 24 as a major political impulse and a step in making this most dangerous weapon of mass destruction illegal under international law.
Read More
Viewpoint by Sergio Duarte
The writer is President of Pugwash. Former UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs.
NEW YORK (IDN) – The 50th instrument of ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) was deposited on October 24 – coinciding with the 75th anniversary of the United Nations Charter. In accordance with its Article 15, the Treaty will enter automatically into force 90 days after that date. When in force, the TPNW will become part of the corpus of positive international law as the first multilateral agreement that comprehensively prohibits nuclear weapons and also addresses the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapon use and testing, including assistance to victims. Besides, it is the first treaty that explicitly forbids its members from hosting nuclear weapons belonging to other states.
Read More
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*
LUND, Sweden (IDN) – Any day now the news will come that the US and Russia have decided to renew the important nuclear arms reduction of around 1000 warheads each that was agreed by Presidents Barack Obama and Dimitri Medvedev. Another feather in Trump’s foreign policy hat? Yes, indeed.
In fact, his record on foreign policy is said by his supporters to be better than both the Democrat and Republican presidents before him. Most important, he has not started any new wars.
Read More
`By Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – For many, the images of rogue Nigerian soldiers firing live ammunition at hundreds of peaceful protesters in Lagos, killing at least 12 people, will be hard to forget.
Now, some of Nigeria’s prize-winning authors have turned acid-tipped pens against the government of Muhammadu Buhari for failing to rein in an elite police unit whose sullied record of unprovoked raids, arbitrary beatings, arrests and extortion, especially against young people, has sparked a movement that brought out thousands nationwide.
Read More
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – A long-running conflict between Cameroon's French and English-speaking communities brought new horror on October 24 with an attack on the Mother Francisca International Bilingual Academy in the city of Kumba, in the country’s Southwest Region, by armed terrorists taking the lives of six children and leaving over a dozen seriously injured.
Communications Minister Rene Emmanuel Sadi called it "a terrorist act of unbearable cruelty and barbarity".
Read More
The following is the text of a statement by Sergio Duarte, President, and Paolo Cotta Ramusino, Secretary-General of the 1995 Nobel Peace Laureate Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs on the Ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons by 50 States.
ROME (IDN) – Pugwash notes with deep appreciation the deposit of the fiftieth instrument of ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) on October 24, 2020. The Treaty will enter into force ninety days from that date. This will be an important result of the efforts of the United Nations, Secretary-General Guterres and a large number of non-nuclear States, together with several non-governmental organizations, especially ICAN, to inscribe the rejection of nuclear weapons into positive international law.
Read More
The following is the text of a statement by Mr. Hirotsugu Terasaki, Director General, Peace and Global Issues of Soka Gakkai International (SGI) on the Ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons by 50 States.
TOKYO (IDN) – We wish to wholeheartedly welcome the ratification, on October 24, 2020, UN Day, of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) by Honduras, meeting the 50-state minimum necessary for the entry into force. Three years and three months have passed since the treaty was adopted at the United Nations on July 7, 2017, with the support of 122 countries. March to Ban the Bomb.
Read More
Viewpoint by Tariq Rauf *
“Quos Deus vult perdere, prius dementat,
Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad,
Evil appears as good in the minds of those whom gods lead to destruction.”
VIENNA (IDN) -– On 22 January 2021, the Treaty on the Prohibition on Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) becomes international law in accordance with international legal principles underpinned by the United Nations Charter and the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. Dreading this eventuality, the nuclear-armed States and the “captive nations” in alliances backed by nuclear weapons are panicking and resorting to unhinged arguments against this treaty adopted by 122 of 193 UN Member States on 7 July 2017 – it has been signed by 84 and ratified by 50 States.
Read More
|
|
|