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Photo: Airborne Launch Control System. Credit: www.afgsc.af.mil/

Activists Call on U.S. to Respect the Olympic Truce

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) – As the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games kicked off on February 9, over 100 activists from around the United States sent an open letter to Defence Secretary James Mattis, calling on him to respect the Olympic Truce by postponing provocative nuclear-capable missile tests.

Dozens of organizations around the country worked closely together to send the letter, Sandy Jones, Director of Communications at the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation in Santa Barbara in California said.

The letter states, "Regardless of advance planning of such tests, it is essential to global security that the United States be flexible and respect worthwhile initiatives for peace such as the Olympic Truce."

: UN Bureau; NEWSBRIEFS; 09 February 2018

Photo: Celebrity chef Ali Artiste (right) sees how sorghum recipes are being rediscovered in rural Kenya as farmers switch crops in response to droughts. Credit: IFADTV

Why the US Should Get Back to the Pledging Table at IFAD

Viewpoint by Scott Morris

Scott Morris is a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development and director of the US Development Policy Initiative, which seeks to broaden the US government’s approach to development. He also works on issues related to the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and particularly the relationship between the IFIs and the United States. This article first appered on the Center for Global Development Blog on February 7, 2018 and is being re-published with due permission. – The Editor

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) – As donors gather [on February 13-14] in Rome to pledge funds to the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), they may be wondering where the United States is. During a recent debate on the floor of the US House of Representatives, Congresswoman Maxine Waters raised the possibility that the Trump administration may not make a pledge to IFAD.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 08 February 2018

Photo: Burundian student Mmane Alini, 17, takes notes in class at Hope Secondary School in Nduta refugee camp, Tanzania. © UNHCR/Georgina Goodwin

Refugees, Migrants Need Courageous European Leadership

Viewpoint by Idriss Jazairy

Ambassador Idriss Jazairy is the executive director of the Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue and the former head of a UN specialised agency, IFAD. This article first appeared* in EURACTIV on February 5, 2018 and is being re-published with their permission.

GENEVA (IDN) – More people than ever are on the move under the centrifugal impulse of globalisation. Fifteen percent of the world’s population or one billion of the Earth’s seven billion people are considered as people on the move. Host developing countries or societies bear the brunt of those that flee from their homes.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 08 February 2018

Photo: Defense Secretary James N. Mattis and Air Force Gen. Paul J. Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testify on the National Defense Strategy and the Nuclear Posture Review before the House Armed Services Committee in Washington, D.C., Feb. 6, 2018. DoD photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Kathryn E. Holm

Nuclear Posture Review 'Recipe for a Disaster', Warns Pugwash

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – The Nobel Peace laureate 'Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs' has warned that the latest development of U.S. nuclear weapons policy "will serve only to increase the saliency and attractiveness of nuclear weapons, and will certainly not enhance international security."

Commenting on the United States 2018 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), Pugwash President Sergio Duarte and Secretary General Paolo Cotta-Ramusino said on February 6: "The global landscape is already filled with simmering nuclear tensions, as well as other serious issues of conflict. Stressing the role of nuclear weapons is not merely unhelpful but is likely to increase these tensions."

: J Nastranis; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 07 February 2018

Photo: Olivia Nankindu, 27, surveys the fruits of her labor in the waning afternoon sunlight on her farm near Kyotera, Uganda. Credit: Stephan Gladieu|World Bank

UN Calls for Keeping the Promises to the World's Poorest

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | GENEVA (IDN) – Forty-seven countries, already the world's most disadvantaged, will fall short of achieving sustainable development goals set by the United Nations in its 2030 Agenda unless urgent action is taken, a new study has warned.

Recognised as least developed countries (LDCs) in UN jargon, the 47 are known to be in need of special attention from the international community. They are mostly situated in Africa South of the Sahara. Forty of the LDCs belong, among others, to the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of 79 States.

: Ramesh Jaura; UN INSIDER; 07 February 2018

Drought Forces Ghana To Ration Water Supply

By Global Information Network

NEW YORK | ACCRA (IDN) – The state-owned Ghana Water Company Ltd (GWCL) has announced that due to severe dry winter winds (called ‘harmattan’) and the drying up of rivers, water deliveries will be rationed over the coming months while the country awaits the rain.

“We are sorry to inform the consuming public that the situation has led to intermittent water supply in most cities and towns in the country,” said Stanley Martey, communications director of the national company. The rate of evaporation of water bodies nationwide has become alarming and there will be consequences for some communities, he said.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 07 February 2018

Photo: U.S. President Donald J. Trump (on screen) addresses the General Assembly’s annual general debate on 19 September 2017 in which he declared: "The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea." Credit: UN Photo/Ariana Lindquist

Trump Might Well Break International Law Over North Korea

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – We are soon going to have a clash between President Donald Trump and international law. This is predicable when one examines the presidential discourse over what to do about North Korea and its possession of nuclear-tipped rockets.

He has threatened "fire and fury" which doesn’t sound like the opening words of the UN’s Charter: "We the peoples of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war…..and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained……and for these ends to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours."

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 06 February 2018

Photo: The Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Pennsylvania transits the Hood Canal as the boat returns to its homeport at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, Wash., Dec. 27, 2017, following a routine strategic deterrent patrol. Pennsylvania is one of eight ballistic missile submarines stationed at the base, providing the most survivable leg of the strategic deterrence triad for the United States. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Amanda R. Gray

Trump Awaits a 'Magical Moment' to Ban Nuclear Weapons

By Shanta Roy

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – The 2018 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), released February 2, is a dangerous departure from the past, and appears to reflect a firm U.S. commitment to readily use the world's deadliest weapons of mass destruction – even if the United States is only a target of "significant non-nuclear strategic attacks", including cyberattacks.

The new policy statement – reflecting a wide justification for a nuclear war – should also be viewed against the continued contradictory statements made by President Donald Trump on issues such as climate change, the Iranian nuclear deal, and most importantly, the use of nuclear weapons.

: Thalif Deen; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 06 February 2018

Photo: President Barack Obama and President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia sign the New START Treaty during a ceremony at Prague Castle in Prague, Czech Republic, April 8, 2010. Credit: White House / Chuck Kennedy / Wikimedia Commons.

'New START' Milestone Could Help Halt Nuclear Arms Race

By J C Suresh

TORONTO | WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) – The Arms Control Association has called for extending the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) set to expire on February 5, 2021. The plea follows on the heels of an announcement each by the United States and Russia that they have met their obligations under the Treaty to reduce their deployed strategic nuclear forces by February 5, the implementation deadline.

Greeting the announcements, Daryl G. Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association (ACA) said: "New START implementation is a significant accomplishment. Through this treaty, the two sides have improved strategic stability, predictability, and transparency, and verifiably trimmed their still oversized nuclear arsenals."

: J C Suresh; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 06 February 2018

Image: Trump speaking on Tax Reform. Credit: YouTube Snapshot | White House.

US Tax Reforms Affect 50% of Global Foreign Direct Investment

By Jaya Ramachandran

GENEVA (IDN) – Almost half of global investment stock is either located in the United States or owned by American multinationals abroad. The United States 'Tax Cuts and Jobs Act', adopted in December 2017, will therefore significantly affect both investment into the U.S. and the investment positions of U.S. firms abroad, according to a special issue of the UNCTAD Global Investment Trends Monitor.

"The impact on investment in the developing world remains to be seen. However, developing countries need real investments in productive assets, not cash parked overseas," said UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi.