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Preparations Afoot to Commemorate Hiroshima Atom Bombing
By Taro Ichikawa
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis
TOKYO (IDN) - Nuclear abolition is not yet around the corner. But the United States, Britain and France have apparently come round to the view that the 65th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is an appropriate opportunity to underline a paradigm shift under way.
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Bribery Will Eat into Gains of East African Integration
By Jerome Mwanda
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis
NAIROBI (IDN) - A new report has warned that unless bribery is banned, 126 million citizens of the East African Community will be deprived of the benefits that economic integration promises to bring in its wake.
These words of caution stem from the East African Bribery Index 2010 (EABI 2010) released by Transparency International-Kenya within about three weeks of the East African Common Market Protocol coming into effect on July 1, 2010.
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Developing Countries should be paid for Eco Disasters
By Martin Khor*
IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint
GENEVA (IDN) - The 20 billion U.S. dollar put aside by BP to pay for the effects of the Gulf oil spill contrasts with the lack of accountability of big firms that cause environmental harm in developing countries.
In a widely publicised move in June, the United States President Barrack Obama succeeded in getting the oil company BP to set aside $20 billion into a fund to meet claims for compensating losses arising from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. It is extraordinary that a giant company has been pressurised by a government to agree to pay so much.
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UN in a Blind Alley as Peace Eludes Darfur
By Richard Johnson
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis
GENEVA (IDN) - As the mandate, being carried out by the UN-African Union mission in Darfur (UNAMID), comes to an end on July 31, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's report to the Security Council indicates that the situation in Sudan's western region is rather critical.
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Maldives Seeks Way out of Democracy Crisis
By Anand Kumar*
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis
NEW DELHI (IDN) - Multi-party democracy in Maldives -- an island nation in the Indian Ocean -- is facing a major crisis after less than two years of its establishment. A bitter political struggle has emerged between the president and opposition-led national parliament since June.
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Views Differ on Fate of Food Aid Convention
By Nirode Masson
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis
LONDON (IDN) - The food price spike followed by the financial and economic crisis has worsened global food insecurity. But beyond a grand commitment to doing more about food security, there is no agreement on specifics, says a new report.
The specifics on which an agreement has yet to be achieved are: a definition of what food assistance is, or the nature of a new food security architecture, and what should replace the Food Aid Convention due to expire in 2011.
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Israel Seems to Have the Divine Right to Impunity
By Julio Godoy
IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint
BERLIN (IDN) - One anecdote being repeatedly told these days is that some 20 years ago, the then U.S. foreign minister James Baker, angry with the Israeli government of the time for the lack of progress in the Middle East peace talks, gave his direct telephone number to his colleague in Tel Aviv, and urged him to call. "But you only call me when you are serious about peace," Baker reportedly said.
Even though the Israeli government of the time and the ones that followed were almost never "serious about peace" -- with the sole and honourable exception of Yitzhak Rabin in the early 1990s . . .
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Pregnant with Possibility
By Asha-Rose Migiro*
IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint
NEW YORK (IDN) - The news of a pregnancy should ideally be met with joy -- but all too often there is justifiable fear. The African Union Summit, set to focus on the health of mothers and children, has a chance to transform this fear into hope.
(The Summit concludes on July 27, 2010.)
Ten years into the Millennium Development Goals, we know what African leaders have always appreciated: when you invest in mothers, whole societies benefit, and when you care for children, you raise a new generation of leaders.
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Spirituality Tangos with Showbiz in Singapore
By Kalinga Seneviratne
IDN-InDepth NewsFeature*
SINGAPORE (IDN) - Every Sunday morning thousands of young and old pour into Singapores two convention centres -- Expo and Suntec -- packing into large halls with blinding stage-lights, camera crews on cranes transmitting pictures onto jumbo electronic screens with multimedia effects.
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They Break Taboos But Don't Go the Whole Hog
By Ramesh Jaura
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis
BERLIN (IDN) - A huge funding gap threatens to torpedo efforts by the international community to cope with critical global development and environmental challenges. At least $324 billion will be required each year between 2012 and 2017 -- a reason pressing enough for a Committee of Experts to break taboos and explore innovative financing sources.
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