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Photo: Ethiopian voters went to the polls in the early hours of the morning in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on June 21, 2021. (VOA/Yan Boechat)

Ethiopian Leader Wins New 5-Year Term in A 'Credible' But ‘Flawed’ Vote’

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — In a vote the US called "significantly flawed," Ethiopia’s “Prosperity Party”, headed by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, carried the majority of votes cast. Prime Minister Abiy hailed the election as Ethiopia’s first attempt at a free and fair vote.

The vote was a test for the Prime Minister, who will begin a second five-year term. It was delayed by the coronavirus twice and could not be held in some regions due to unrest, leaving seats empty in parliament.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 11 July 2021

Photo: Robert Floyd, who heads Australia's safeguards and nonproliferation office, will succeed Lassina Zerbo, a geophysicist originally from Burkino Faso, as CTBTO Executive Secretary. Credit: Government of Australia.

Protracted Talks Lead States to Settle on Next CTBTO Leader

By Daryl G. Kimball*

The writer is the Executive Director of the Arms Control Association.

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN) — After an unusually contentious process that lasted for months, representatives from the member states of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) finally agreed to appoint Robert Floyd of Australia to serve as its executive secretary.

: J C Suresh; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 11 July 2021

Photo: The RSS believes the concept of being secular was "irrelevant" in the Indian context and the “artificial injection of secularism” was not needed in a social order as hospitable and assimilative as Hindu society. Credit: Hindustan Times.

The Opposition in India Should Focus on Restoration of Democracy

Viewpoint by Dr Ram Puniyani

This article is the 14th in a series of joint productions of South Asian Outlook and IDN-InDepthNews, the flagship of the International Press Syndicate. The writer is a former professor of biomedical engineering and former senior medical officer affiliated with the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (now Mumbai) and meanwhile a social activist and commentator.

: Suresh Jaura; THE WORLD; South Asia; 10 July 2021

New Efforts to Reduce Homeownership Disparity in the US

By J W Jackie

RENO, Nevada, USA (IDN) — The White House has announced that it will be taking new actions to build black wealth and narrow the racial wealth and homeownership gaps that currently exist in the US. The Administration has vowed to “Take action to address racial discrimination in the housing market, including by launching a first-of-its-kind interagency effort to address inequity in home appraisals, and conducting rulemaking to aggressively combat housing discrimination.”

: J C Suresh; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 10 July 2021

Image: A Trident II missile fires its first stage after an underwater launch from a Royal Navy Vanguard-class ballistic missile submarine. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

US Should Commit to A No-First-Use Nuclear Policy

Viewpoint by Van Jackson*

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (IDN) — It was one of the most potent lessons of the Cold War—nukes are good for deterring others from using nukes, but not much else. Weapons capable only of spasmodic mass violence are too crude as a credible tool of coercion in most circumstances.

If the United States seeks only deterrence, but not political advantage from nuclear weapons, then adopting a no first use nuclear policy is not just low-risk—it’s necessary.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 10 July 2021

Photo: A Security Council meeting in progress. Credit: United Nations.

DON'T QUOTE ME: When the UN’s Most Powerful Body Enjoyed its Lighter Moments…

By Thalif Deen

NEW YORK (IDN) — As the UN’s most powerful political body, the 15-member Security Council (UNSC) is armed with a mandate to maintain international peace and security.

But regretfully, it has been missing in action (MIA) in recent months, particularly in the ongoing conflicts in Palestine and Myanmar, where it has failed to take action against the perpetrators of violence resulting in hundreds of civilian killings and destruction of homes.

: Thalif Deen; UN INSIDER; 09 July 2021

Image Source: Geneva Centre for Secuirty Policy

Sixteen States Urge the Nuclear-Weapon States to Take Decisive Steps Towards Disarmament

By Aar Jay Persius

BERLIN (IDN) — "A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought." On June 16, at their meeting in Geneva, US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin re-affirmed this fundamental truth, famously coined by their predecessors, Reagan and Gorbachev, at the last peak of the cold war, write the Foreign Affairs Ministers of Germany (Heiko Maas), Spain (Arancha González Laya) and Sweden (Ann Linde) in an article published in the German newspaper Rheinische Post on July 5.

: Ramesh Jaura; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 09 July 2021

Photo: Refugees from Tigray watch an interview of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Um Rakuba refugee camp, in Al-Qadarif state, eastern Sudan on June 24, 2021. Credit: Morgane Wirtz at hanslucas.com

Encounters with Refugees at the Three-Country Point between Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia

By Morgane Wirtz**

Since the start of the conflict in Tigray in November 2020, Sudan has hosted more than 60,000 Ethiopian refugees. They are in addition to the tens of thousands of Eritreans the country receives each year. Some are fleeing massacres; others have been forced to fight.

HAMDAYETE, Sudan (IDN) — The Sudanese village Hamdayete lies on the banks of the Tekeze River, on the border between three countries. In the North-East, Eritrea. In the South-East, Ethiopia. In the West, Sudan. Due to its geographical position, Hamdayete is a reception centre for many refugees.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 08 July 2021

Image: People in hazardous materil overallson July 6, outside of a public housing tower in Melbourne. Source: France24 video.

Australia’s Early Success In Controlling Covid Turns Sour

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) — Along with Singapore and New Zealand, Australia was considered as one of the top three safest countries in the world for having successfully fought the spread of Covid-19 until about two months ago. But, with a two weeks lockdown in Australia’s largest city Sydney extended for another week, this early success has turned sour meanwhile.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 08 July 2021

Guiding Coal Companies to Meet the Dual Challenge of Net Zero and A Just Transition

Viewpoint by Noora Puro*

AMSTERDAM (IDN) — As the build-up continues to the pandemic-delayed UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), all eyes—and hopefully all agendas—are on how to reach net-zero carbon emissions. And as the International Energy Agency (IEA) made clear in its recent Net Zero by 2050 report, this aim will fall short without a radical decrease this decade in the share of coal in global energy generation. Indeed, taken together, the coal, oil, and gas sectors are the single main cause of climate change due to their production of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.