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Photo: Abylaikhan Bogenbaiuly, used with permission, credit: gov.kz

Achieving the Elusive Against the Odds: "A Middle East Nuclear (and WMD) Free Zone"

By Tariq Rauf

NEW YORK (IDN) — Finally, at long last, the postponed 2020 Tenth Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference commenced its work at United Nations headquarters in New York on August 1, 2022. Under the able Presidency of Ambassador Gustavo Zlauvinen of Argentina, the review conference is expected to complete its work on August 26.

If all goes well, a Final Document would be adopted on the review of the implementation of the NPT and the commitments agreed at the review conferences held in 1995, 2000 and 2010—there was no agreement in 2005 and 2015 as the conferences ended in disarray over disagreements on nuclear disarmament and the Middle East.

: UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 15 August 2022

Photo: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Myanmar's junta leader Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyitaw on August 3 (Credit: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation MFA)

"Misery Acquaints a Man with Strange Bedfellows"

Russia's Complex Myanmar Embrace

Viewpoint by Jan Servaes

BRUSSELS (IDN) — Think tanks conduct interdisciplinary research to develop positions and recommendations on a wide range of domestic and international topics encompassing defence, economic development and social policy. Therefore, many think tanks advocate and lobby for policy changes at the local, national and international level. The International Crisis Group, founded in 1995, is such an independent organisation that has gained recognition for its work to prevent wars and advocate policies to build a more peaceful world.

: Opinion Editor; THE WORLD; Russia; 14 August 2022

Photo: Inauguration of Gustavo Petro as president of Colombia in 2022. Source: Twitter Samantha Power, USAID.

Gustavo Petro's Election Promises a Major Change in Colombia

By Shastri Ramachandaran

NEW DELHI (IDN) — The leftward shift in South America that gained momentum in 2021, with right-wing politicians being worsted in presidential elections in Peru, Chile and Honduras, continues its sweep in 2022.

Colombia, famous for its coffee and the novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez, has long remained under right-wing regimes that enjoyed a cosy equation with Washington. Some of these regimes were terrible dictatorships which forced people like Marquez, best known for his One Hundred Years of Solitude, to live in exile out of fear of being killed by state-sponsored mafia elements.

: Shastri Ramachandaran; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 14 August 2022

Photo: Women receive food rations at a food distribution site in Herat, Afghanistan. © UNICEF/Sayed Bidel

Afghanistan: UN Human Rights Experts Warn of Bleak Future Without Turnaround

Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) — UN experts are warning that Afghanistan's future is bleak if more is not done to reverse the deteriorating human rights situation, particularly for women and girls. They call on the international community to intensify efforts to urge de facto authorities to adhere to basic human rights principles.

: Jamshed Baruah; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 14 August 2022

Photo: US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. Credit: WION

US Security Adviser's Fake Take: Lie About Iranian Drones for Russia

By Shastri Ramachandaran

NEW DELHI | WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) — US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan's bluff about an Iran-Russia deal for "hundreds" of drones was nailed by none other than US National Security Agency (NASA) spokesperson John Kirby.

On July 11, Sullivan claimed that Iran was preparing to sell hundreds of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), including weapons-capable drones, to Russia for use in the war against Ukraine.

: Shastri Ramachandaran; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 13 August 2022

Photo: Young people attend a youth summit in Jamaica. Credit: UN Jamaica

UN Chief Underlines "the Power of Partnerships Across Generations"

By Radwan Jakeem

NEW YORK (IDN) — Celebrated every year on August 12, the theme of this year's International Youth Day is "Intergenerational Solidarity: Creating a World for All Ages", which UN Secretary-General António Guterres noted, reminds us of "a basic truth" that "we need people of all ages, young and old alike, to join forces to build a better world for all".

: Radwan Jakeem; UN INSIDER; 12 August 2022

Photo: Ms Wada Masako addressing the UN General Assembly at the UN General Assembly on August 5 as part of the 2022 NPT Review Conference. Credit: Akira Kawasaki.

Indelible Impact of the Bombing of Nagasaki

Viewpoint by Wada Masako

Ms Wada Masako is Assistant Secretary-General of the Japan Confederation of A-and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo). Following are extensive extracts from the text of her presentation at the UN General Assembly on August 5 as part of the 2022 NPT Review Conference.

NEW YORK (IDN) — I was a one- and ten-months old baby when Nagasaki was devastated by the atomic bomb. My house was located 2.9 kilometres away from the blast centre. Thanks to the mountains surrounding the central part of Nagasaki City, which somewhat shielded my house from the direct impact of the bomb, I have survived to this day.

: UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 12 August 2022

Photo: Chinese fishermen. Source: East Asia Forum

China's Efforts to Reel in Overfishing

By Hongzhou Zhang and Genevieve Donnellon-May*

This article was first issued by East Asia Forum.

SINGAPORE | OXFORD (IDN) — Global fish stocks are facing a crisis, with nearly all classified as either fully exploited, overexploited or significantly depleted. China is the largest contributor to this problem as a world leader in both fishery exports and imports. It is simultaneously responsible for 15 per cent of the global total of caught fish and one-third of fish consumption worldwide.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 11 August 2022

Photo: The long lines for kerosene, used in cooking, which is in short supply island wide. Credit: Sunday Times, Sri Lanka

The Politics of Misfortune in Sri Lanka

By Neville de Silva*

LONDON, (IDN) — Never in Sri Lanka's 74-year post-independence history has a democratically elected leader been forced to flee the country, running away from the economic shambles and social disarray he was largely responsible for creating.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa with 6.9 million votes under his belt was elected president at the butt end of 2019. Two and a half years later, one of the siblings of the most powerful political family in the country, was forced out of his private residence in the outskirts of the capital Colombo by angry crowds as essentials such as fuel, cooking gas, medicines ran out and some foods were hard to find.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 10 August 2022

Photo: Screenshot of "The Bandit Warlords of Zamfara". Source: BBC Eye Investigations.

A Film Explores Fulani-Hausa Conflict in Nigeria's Zamfara State

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — In a deeply disturbing new documentary, Nigerian journalist Yusuf Anka presents a devastating portrait of his country's worst security crisis. In the north-western state of Zamfara, heavily armed bandit gangs raid villages, attack drivers, abduct children and kill anyone who resists.

As seen through this hour-long video, we hear the voices of Fulani-dominated bandits, as they are popularly called in Nigeria, and Hausa-dominated vigilantes, including the men who abducted almost 300 secondary schoolgirls in February 2021.