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News for a Sustainable World
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 15 | 2021. This weekly is the flagship news product of the Non-Profit International Press Syndicate Group with registered offices in Canada, Germany, Japan and Singapore, and correspondents around the world. Feel free to share and re-publish articles pro bono mentioning the source. Previous editions are available on https://newsletter-archive.indepthnews.net. Your feedback is most welcome.
Kind regards from the Non-Profit
International Press Syndicate
By P.I. Gomes
Dr P.I. Gomes is former Secretary-General of the Organisation of African, the Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS was previously ACP Group of States).
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago (IDN) — La Soufriere volcano in the northeast of the main island of St. Vincent & the Grenadines, after warning signs of rumblings some months ago and the volcanologists’ prediction of an imminent eruption, just a week ago, the fate of nature’s fierce foray was felt on April 8, 2021 by the first explosive eruption of metre-high clouds of ash, smoke, rocks and debris. This was the first most severe event causing the evacuation of some 16,000 persons from a red zone in close proximity to the volcanic area.
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By Jamshed Baruah
GENEVA (IDN) — The Nobel laureate International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), a coalition of non-governmental organizations promoting adherence to and implementation of the United Nations nuclear weapon ban treaty, has been pleading for divestment in nuclear weapons. "The imminent entry-into-force of the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) allows for a unique opportunity to hit the nuclear weapons producers where it hurts—their wallets," an ICAN campaign says.
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Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*
LUND, Sweden (IDN) — Who won the Second World War? If you go to the United Kingdom people will answer, we did, led by Winston Churchill. If you visit the USA people will say, we did, led by Franklin Roosevelt. If you go to Russia, people will say the Soviet Union did, led by Stalin.
They can’t all be right. All three did to an extent, in as much as all three went flat out to defeat Hitler’s Germany.
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The following excerpts are from a newly-released, 220-page book titled “No Comment – and Don’t Quote me on That”, a rich collection of political anecdotes, both serious and hilarious, reflecting over 40 years of reporting from the United Nations*
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, (IDN) — The United Nations, along with the 193 diplomatic missions located in New York, have long been veritable battlegrounds for spying, wire-tapping and electronic surveillance.
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By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) — In a message marking the grim anniversary of the 1994 genocide of Tutsi in Rwanda, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned of the rise of extremist groups and the inflammatory rhetoric that produced horrific consequences.
“Everyone must take a hard look at today’s world and ensure that we heed the lessons of 27 years ago,” the UN chief declared. “While the technology used by extremists is evolving, their vile messages and rhetoric remain the same.”
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By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) — “What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore…and then run?”
Those were the prophetic words of poet Langston Hughes but they could also explain the rising frustration in an African election season where hopes for a democratic change are deferred and the incumbent holds on to power year after year after year.
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By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) — The Church of England is joining a handful of museums, universities, and private owners exploring the repatriation to Nigeria of thousands of brass plaques, wooden and ivory sculptures known as the Benin Bronzes looted by British soldiers in the waning days of the colonial era.
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By Sudan Tribune
KHARTOUM (IDN) — Sudan has declined an Ethiopian offer to share data on the second filling of a giant dam before reaching a legally binding agreement. Egypt has adopted a similar position.
Ethiopia’s foreign ministry on April 9 said it has formally requested Sudan and Egypt to "nominate dam operators to exchange data before the second filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) commences in the upcoming rainy seasons in Ethiopia".
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By Ramu Damodaran
The writer is Chief, United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) hosted in the Department of Global Communications. This OpEd was first published in #WhyWeCare on April 8.
NEW YORK (IDN | UNAI) — We left last week with Bob Marley in our ear, his quest to consummate the end of physical slavery with liberation from its mental forms. Barely had our column been uploaded when I learned of the superstar’s family’s decision to reissue, in honour of UNICEF, his emblematic “One Love” remastered for our age of the pandemic.
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By Radwan Jakeem
NEW YORK (IDN) — The UN Secretary-General has welcomed steps announced by the International Monetary and Finance Committee (IMFC) and the World Bank Group Development Committee, to address debt crises and other financial anguish to economies arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, “as a sign of hope and renewed multilateralism”.
In a statement issued through his Spokesperson on April 9, António Guterres said developing economies had struggled to secure enough financial resources to cope with the onset of the coronavirus crisis, “let alone to recover from it”.
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By Philipp Jahn and Gerrit Kurtz*
This article was first published in the Journal of the International Politics and Society, issued by the German Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung’s Brussels office.
KHARTOUM (IDN) — April 11, 2019 was a day of great emotion in Khartoum. At noon, the then-Vice President Ibn Auf announced the arrest of President Omar al-Bashir. The residents of Khartoum celebrated the end of his 30-year rule by holding a sit-in in front of the military headquarters. In the evening, however, the mood shifted when the putschist military council announced two years of military rule.
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By J W Jackie
RENO, Nevada, USA (IDN) — Thirty years after the Americans With Disabilities Act was passed in the U.S. to make the country and the internet more accessible, the glaring problems with digital accessibility can no longer be ignored. Whether it’s access to healthcare, work and education, or even state government websites, the ongoing switch to virtual living has alienated a sizable segment of the population.
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Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene
The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of The Interview magazine based in Abuja, Nigeria.
ABUJA (IDN) — There was a BBC News story in February that caught me between laughter and bemusement. The news channel reported, in very strong language matched only by the alarming reactions of the persons interviewed, a spate of stabbings across parts of south London that left at least one dead.
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By Sugeeswara Senadhira
The writer is Director (International Media), Presidential Secretariat, Colombo.
COLOMBO (IDN) — Indian security officials believe the interception of a Sri Lankan boat carrying 300 kilograms of heroin, five AK-47 guns and ammunition off the coast of Vizhinjam in Kerala in South India on March 25 points to a network of narco-terrorism with strong links to a group in Sri Lanka. The Indian officials told the Media the network of narco-terrorism has created sleeper cells in Sri Lanka and other neighbouring countries, and exports drugs to foment trouble. They added that the drug income is then used to fund illegal activities, including extremist activities.
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Viewpoint by Manish Uprety F.R.A.S. and Jainendra Karn*
KATHMANDU (IDN) — In December 2020, Dr. Leonel Fernández Reyna, former president of the Dominican Republic and President of Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo, presented his vision about “The global and regional challenges of the 4.0 world,” where he highlighted the need to facilitate access to technology for all citizens.
His observations are a clarion call to the international community as the world stands on the precipice of a great tectonic shift caused by the Fourth Industrial Revolution currently underway.
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