COVID-19

Photo: An air and missile defense crew member loads a Stinger missile onto an Avenger short-range air defense missile system on Shipton Kaserne, Ansbach, Germany, during training, April 30, 2020. Credit: Dani Johnson, U.S. Army

US Army Garrison in Germany Is Maintaining 'Combat Proficiency' During COVID-19

By Dani Johnson

The writer is assigned to United States Army Garrison Ansbach in Germany's southern state of Bavaria. This feature first appeared on U.S. Defense News on May 9. While the global media is focused on the impact of the disastrous impact of the corona virus on the U.S. and elsewhere around the world, the American Air Defense Artillery Battalion is maintaining "combat proficiency".

ANSBACH, Germany (IDN) – With the mission of providing short-range air defense, the 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, or 5-4 ADAR, continues to train to maintain combat proficiency on Shipton Kaserne, Ansbach, Germany, during the COVID-19 pandemic. [Shipton Konzerne is a small United States Army post outside of Ansbach, Germany.]

: Europe Editor; COVID-19; 09 May 2020

We Are Fighting Two Enemies at the Same Time: a Deadly Virus and a Deadlier Hunger

By Bea Cordia

NEW YORK (IDN) – COVID-19 has shattered the entire world. As a result of what some people have called the ‘Great Lockdown’, economic activity has plummeted, borders have been closed, and national health systems are on the edge of collapse.

Since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, more than 250,000 people have died from the highly contagious disease, which spread across geographical, racial and ethnic borders. The worst, however, is yet to come.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 08 May 2020

Photo credit: Paul Saad/African Arguments

COVID-19: An Open Letter from African Intellectuals to Africa’s Leaders

100 leading academics and writers call on leaders to govern with compassion and see the crisis as a chance for a radical change of direction. The following is the full text of the letter, being reproduced courtesy of African Arguments under a Creative Commons Licence 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).

LONDON (IDN) – The threats that are hanging over the African continent with regards to the spread of COVID-19 demand our individual and collective attention. The situation is critical. Yet this is not about mitigating another “African” humanitarian crisis but to diffuse the potentially damaging effects of a virus that has shaken the global order and put under question the bases of our living-together.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 07 May 2020

Pandemics: Lessons Looking Back from 2050 – Part 1

Viewpoint by Fritjof Capra and Hazel Henderson*

This article was originally published on Other News, a vehicle for "voices against the tide" and is being reproduced with thanks.

Berkeley | JACKSONVILLE (IDN) – Imagine, it is the year 2050 and we are looking back to the origin and evolution of the coronavirus pandemic over the last three decades. Extrapolating from recent events, we offer the following scenario for such a view from the future.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 07 May 2020

Photo: Children, highly vulnerable to COVID-19, look to the future with optimism. Credit: Dilrukshi Handunnetti.

Sri Lanka Has Been Successful in Countering COVID-19

The Small Indian Ocean Island Deserves Recognition

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) – Sri Lanka has been successful so far, compared to most countries in the world, in the fight against Covid-19. The mind-numbing figures of death and infection streaming in from many parts of the globe are not being reflected in Sri Lanka. An infection rate of around 700 with 7 deaths in a population of over 21 million are figures to arouse excitement. But surprisingly, no glowing headlines applauding the success of this small relatively poor Indian Ocean island embellish the front pages.

: Dr. Palitha Kohona; OPINION; 06 May 2020

Fake News Is 'Infodemic' That Puts Lives at Risk

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – While Americans hotly debate the subject of "fake news," Africans and others around the world marked a day for reflection on press freedoms in theory and in practice. The theme for this year's event launched by the UN agency UNESCO was "Journalism without fear or favour".

The state of journalism in most parts of the world is precarious, according to many media specialists.

: SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 05 May 2020

People in the Global South Don't Need Debt Relief, They Need a New System

Viewpoint by Meera Karunananthan*

This article was originally published on openDemocracy. Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of IDN-InDepth News

OTTAWA (IDN) – "Those who led us into debt were gambling, as if they were in a casino … there is talk of a crisis. No. They gambled. They lost … We cannot repay the debt because we have nothing to pay it with. If we do not pay, our creditors will not die. We can be sure of that. On the other hand, if we pay, it is we who will die. Of that we can be equally sure." [Thomas Sankara, President of Burkina Faso, 1983-87]

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 05 May 2020

Photo: U.S.-Sri Lanka month-long military training continued in March and April at Sri Lanka's strategic Trincomalee air and naval base despite travel sanctions and Covid-19 spread on the Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier based in the Indian Ocean - Guam. Credit: Sri Lanka Navy.

Time to End the COVID-19 Fear Psychosis & Militarized Curfews

Viewpoint by Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake

The writer is an anthropologist affiliated with the International Center for Ethnic Studies in Colombo.

"The claim that coronavirus would kill millions without shelter-in-place orders and quarantines is highly questionable .. there's little evidence to confirm that premise ..and current estimates about the Covid-19 fatality rate may be too high by orders of magnitude' – Dr. Eran Bendavid and Dr Jay Bhattacharya, Professor of Medicine at Stanford University.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 04 May 2020

Image: Collage of the Globe in Hands with 'Agora'

Manifesto 2020 Calls for A Trans-National Citizens' Alliance

Viewpoint by This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. of the Inhabitants of the Earth

BERLIN (IDN) – A new public declaration of policy and aims, Manifesto 2020, has issued a clarion call for declaring poverty Illegal. Poverty Is the product of labour regulation within the context of unequal economic growth. It is the result of global pillage of life in the interests and survival of the powerful, declares the Agora of the inhabitants of the earth.

It also calls for a global campaign for the design, manufacture and use of a global, common, public, free vaccine against Covid-19. Humanity does not need a vaccine war.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 03 May 2020

Photo: The white Mayadevi temple where Gautama Buddha was born in Lumbini on Vesak full moon day.

COVID-19: We Need A Vaccine for The Mind

By Kalinga Seneviratne

This article is the 40th in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, the flagship of the International Press Syndicate. Click here for previous reports.

SYDNEY (IDN) – Today the global media reports daily about the race to develop a vaccine against COVID-19, but what they fail to understand is that this vaccine may not help us to overcome the severe human security crisis we face today. Rather than a vaccine for the body, we need a vaccine for the mind.