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Photo: Defense Ministers from 14 NATO Allies and Finland came together in Brussels on Thursday (13 October 2022) to sign a Letter of Intent for the development of a “European Sky Shield Initiative”. Source: NATO

Sky Shield & the Spiraling U.S.-NATO Arms Race

Viewpoint by Joseph Gerson

The writer is President of the Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security and Co-Convener of the Peace & Planet International Network.

NEW YORK (IDN) — The Biden Administration’s recent National Security Strategy announced that the post-Cold War order is now history, and that the yet to be named new era is defined by military, economic, and technological competition to shape the new order. NATO’s expansion to Russia’s borders, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the U.S./NATO response, as well as the trade war with China are all major elements in these debilitating, and at times murderous, struggles for hegemony—regional and global.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 07 December 2022

Image: Collage of images from platforms #HealthToo and Surviving in Scrubs.

Health Workers Protect Us, but Who Protects Them?

By Dr Roopa Dhatt and Dr Becky Cox*

WASHINGTON DC | OXFORD (IDN) — The pandemic generated waves of applause for frontline health workers, 90 per cent of whom are women, but some others continued to behave in a more sinister way. Our two organisations received reports of increased issues around protection and safety and some of it related to sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (SEAH). But when we looked for the data to see the scale, little had been formally collected.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 07 December 2022

Photo: US President Joe Biden. Source: The White House.

President Biden Wants to Prevent a Strong Primary Challenge

But He Shouldn’t Get Away with It

Viewpoint by Norman Solomon*

SAN FRANCISCO (IDN) — Joe Biden has directed the Democratic National Committee to reduce the danger that progressives might effectively challenge him in the 2024 presidential primaries. That’s a key goal of his instructions to the DNC on December 2, when Biden insisted on dislodging New Hampshire—the longtime first-in-the-nation primary state where he received just 8 per cent of the vote and finished fifth in the 2020 Democratic primary.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 07 December 2022

Photo: A woman passing by a painting on a wall of the former US embassy in Tehran in 2004 showing the US as a Satan. Credit: Behrouz Mehri/Agence France-Presse

Washington Should Offer Iran a Nuclear Deal It Cannot Decline

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — The policies of Iran’s government are not set in stone, as critics interminably suggest. Only three days ago (on December 4), Iran’s prosecutor-general was reported as saying that the morality police were being disbanded. Clearly, two months of demonstrations, led mainly by women, and now with open support from Iran’s football World Cup team competing in Qatar, have made the government have a big think about its long-term policies.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 06 December 2022

Concern Over Export of Ancient Baobab Tree from Kenya

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | NAIROBI (IDN) — Stories abound of the majestic baobab tree landmarks across Africa where they stand tall, adapted to arid landscapes, the basis of myths, the home of vultures and bees, and the giver of fruits that can feed families during drought.

Baobab, or ‘mbuyu’ in Kiswahili, is a gigantic fibrous leafy tree, common in the open semi-arid areas of eastern and coastal counties of Kenya and in 32 African countries. It is not uncommon to find a 5,000-year-old tree, 100 feet tall, 40 feet in diameter—a prehistoric species which predates both mankind and the splitting of the continents over 200 million years ago.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 06 December 2022

Photo: President Joe Biden and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa shake hands in the Oval Office on September 16, 2022. Source: The White House.

ANC Worried About Possible Ouster of South African President

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | JOHANNESBURG (IDN) — A convoluted tale of monies hidden in a sofa in the home of the South African President Cyril Ramaphosa threatens to unseat a popular leader while it creates more headaches for the African National Congress.

According to the charges, a fortune in U.S. dollars was stolen from President Ramaphosa’s farm but he never reported the theft to the police or disclosed it publicly, but apparently started an off-the-books investigation and paid the suspects to keep quiet.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 06 December 2022

Photo: Russian imports have dropped sharply, reflecting the decision of multinational companies to sever ties with Russia. Courtesy: The New York Times.

Sanctions Hit Russia as Moscow Attempts to Overcome Them

Viewpoint by John P. Ruehl

This article was produced by Globetrotter. John P. Ruehl is an Australian-American journalist living in Washington, D.C. He is a contributing editor to Strategic Policy and a contributor to several other foreign affairs publications. He is currently finishing a book on Russia to be published in 2022.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) — Immediately after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the U.S., the UK, and the EU placed major sanctions on Russia to constrict its economy and restrain its war effort. Having been updated several times since, these sanctions have compounded the effects of the previous sanctions placed on Russia in 2014 after it annexed Crimea.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 06 December 2022

Recalling the Massacre in Namibia on Genocide Prevention Day

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — Genocide Prevention Day falls on December 9 and marks the anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (also known as the UN Genocide Convention. On this day, the victims of genocide worldwide are remembered. People around the world are encouraged to learn from the past and take action to prevent future atrocities.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 05 December 2022

Global Arms Trade Survives the Pandemic Lockdown

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — As the global economy came to a virtual standstill during the height of the 2020-2021 Covid-19 pandemic, the world’s arms trade remained relatively unscathed.

Sales of arms and military services by the 100 largest companies in the industry reached $592 billion in 2021, a 1.9 per cent increase compared with 2020 in real terms, according to new data released December 5, by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

: Thalif Deen; ARMAMENTS; Arms Trade; 05 December 2022

"Most People Have No Idea What's Going On" - Jeffrey Sachs

[IDN-InDepthNews — 05 December 2022]

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