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By Sehar Naz Janani
NARYN, Kyrgyzstan (IDN) – His pale skin, teary eyes, shivering body and trembling voice added to the air of grave solemnity pervading the room.
Breaking the dead silence, his mouth slowly started murmuring, “I am an orphan… But, I have a sister… She beats me every now and then” and added, “She also abuses me emotionally. I could not take it anymore.
By Kalinga Seneviratne
This article is the 37th in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate. Click here for previous articles.
BANGKOK (IDN) – On a Saturday morning a couple drives into the Santi Asoke community in the north-eastern outskirts of Bangkok, and walks into a large warehouse stacked with clothes, shoes, books, electrical goods, mobile phones, washing machines, furniture and other household items. The couple inspects a stack of clothes scattered on a mat, picks some up and puts it in a basket. It is then taken to a volunteer cashier, who weighs it and quotes a price.
By Pía Figueroa
The writer is Co-Director of Pressenza, humanist, author of several monographs and books. This feature appeared first in www.pressenza.com.
SANTIAGO DE CHILE (IDN) – The hashtag #lastesissenior was broadcast on Twitter December 6. It had not been communicated before by social networks. It quickly became a trending topic in Chile. And this came as a surprise, though everything had been organized with a lot of discretion.
Viewpoint by Jiang Feng
Prof Dr Jiang Feng chairs the University Council of Shanghai International Studies University (SISU) in China. This article first appeared on International Politics and Society Journal, published by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung’s Brussels office.
SHANGHAI | BRUSSELS (IDN-INPS) – For German government representatives and top politicians visiting China, a quick trip to Shanghai has almost become obligatory. The city’s rapid development provides a wealth of reasons for admiration and astonishment. Germans are often surprised that it’s much more modern than people generally assume and that it offers a very different picture from the one conveyed in the German press.
By Mark Weisenmiller
TAMPA, USA (IDN) – The UN General Assembly will celebrate the 60th anniversary of its memorable 15th session in 2020. Never before in history had so many extraordinary historical and political leaders of a century been gathered in one place at the same time.
Yet for Frederick H. Bolan of Ireland (President of that General Assembly) and Dag Hammarskjold of Sweden (the then UN Secretary-General), the number of heads of state or government present – 32, by far the most at any one time in the history of the United Nations – was the least of their concerns.
Viewpoint by Jorge Chediek
The author is Director of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) and Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General on South-South Cooperation.
NEW YORK (IDN) – Climate change is the defining challenge of our time. At stake are recent gains in the fights against poverty, hunger and disease, and the lives and livelihoods of millions of people in the global South.
Viewpoint by Dr Palitha Kohona
The writer is former Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations, and former Foreign Secretary.
COLOMBO (IDN) – The annual Conference of the Parties of the Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP25) began in Madrid on December 2, largely unnoticed in Sri Lanka which is just settling down after a bruising presidential election. But given the critical importance of climate change to this beautiful island with its miles of unspoilt beaches, populated low lands, breathtaking tea covered mountains, and weather dependent agriculture, it should have received more attention.
Viewpoint by Inge Kaul*
BERLIN (IDN) – In his opening address to COP25 UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that, in the field of climate change, we are fast approaching the point of no-return and that, therefore, “our war against nature must stop”. He added that “that is possible”. Only, what “is still lacking is political will”. So how to summon the political will to act?
By Jaya Ramachandran
GENEVA (IDN) – As 2019 comes to a close, the United Nations has warned that climatic shocks, large infectious disease outbreaks and intensifying, protracted conflicts will constrain nearly 168 million – or one person in 45 on the planet – to seek humanitarian assistance and protection next year in crises spanning more than 50 countries. Also, millions of children across the globe will need life-saving support.
![* Branko Milanović is a visiting professor at the City University of New York. Prior to that, he was a senior economist of the research department at the World Bank. Most recently, he published the book "Global Inequality. A New Approach for the Age of Globalization". This article is a joint publication by Social Europe and International Politics and Society Journal. [IDN-InDepthNews – 04 December 2019]](/images/Grand_Concourse.jpg)
Viewpoint by Branko Milanović*
NEW YORK (IDN) – In a series of books, and especially in Antifragile, Nassim Taleb has introduced an important concept — that of being antifragile, referring to ‘things that gain from disorder’. ‘Fragile’ is, of course, the opposite: it connotes something that thrives under stable conditions but, being brittle, loses, and at times loses big, amid volatility. In the middle, ‘robust’ indicates resilience against uncertainty and turmoil, without the capacity to profit from it.
IDN-InDepthNews offers news analyses, features, reports and viewpoints that impact the world and its peoples. It has been online since 2009. Its network spans countries around the world.
IDN-InDepthNews serves as flagship agency of the International Press Syndicate and its partner, the Global Cooperation Council, established in February 1983.